The second piece of silverware in the 2025/26 Premier Soccer League season is up for grabs as the Carling Knockout begins on Friday with eight first round ties over the weekend.
The competing teams are four wins away from lifting the trophy in South Africa’s ‘League Cup’, which was first played in 1982 and has seen Kaizer Chiefs far and away the most successful side with 13 title wins.
Mamelodi Sundowns are the next best with four victories, but in a competition that has seen 11 different champions in the last 12 editions, it has grown a reputation as a happy hunting ground for the minnows.
Here is a quick guide to the first round matches.
Friday, October 3, 19h00 SAST
The old Maritzburg United, who were finalists in this competition in 2019, have been rebranded as Durban City, and with coach Gavin Hunt in charge have made a good start to their campaign. But then so have Polokwane City and this is in fact a battle between the teams placed fourth and fifth in the league table. They have already met this term, playing to a 0-0 draw in Limpopo. Expect this to be another tight one.
Saturday, October 4, 15h00 SAST
TS Galaxy were losing finalists in 2023 when they went down on penalties to Stellenbosch FC and are a difficult team to read – on their day a match for anyone, but also a side that flatters to deceive. Orbit College will debut in this competition following their promotion to the topflight but have had a poor start to their league campaign and lost 3-1 at home to Galaxy at the end of August. Put this one down as another away win.
ORLANDO PIRATES VS SIWELELE FC
Saturday, October 4, 15h00 SAST
It is one of the oddities of South African football that for all their trophy success across South Africa’s domestic competitions, Orlando Pirates have been very poor in this one. They have been to nine finals down the years, but their only title win came in 2011, a terrible conversion rate that really has no explanation. Maybe this will be their year. Perhaps predictably, Siwelele are already a club in turmoil and it will take a huge effort for them to defeat Pirates in Orlando. These two sides met in Bloemfontein on two weeks ago and Pirates won 1-0.
LAMONTVILLE GOLDEN ARROWS V SEKHUKHUNE UNITED
Saturday, October 4, 18h00 SAST
Sekhukhune United have made a superb start to their league campaign and sit in second place, while Golden Arrows ended a three-game losing streak with back-to-back wins recently. Abafana Bes’thende have been a bit of a ‘nothing club’ in cup football over the years, winning the MTN8 in 2009 but not reaching another final in their history. Considering they have had some good teams over the years, that is quite surprising. Sekhukhune could be a good bet to take this one and already have a 1-0 win over Golden Arrows in the league this season, though they needed a late Bradley Grobler goal to do it.
MAMELODI SUNDOWNS VS MARUMO GALLANTS
Saturday, October 4, 20h00 SAST
Sundowns were beaten finalists last year and overall have a fairly mediocre record in this competition with only four wins, the last in 2019. Marumo Gallants stunned them in the semifinals of the 2021 Nedbank Cup and went on to lift the trophy, before losing to Sundowns in the final of that competition the following year. That was the start of seven wins in a row for Sundowns in this fixture before Gallants held them to a 1-1 league draw in the league earlier this season.
STELLENBOSCH FC VS KAIZER CHIEFS
Sunday, October 5, 15h00 SAST
Kaizer Chiefs are the most successful team in the competition by a long shot with 13 wins, though their last success was all the way back in 2010. Stellenbosch have an excellent record of reaching semifinals and finals in the last three years, but have little to show for their efforts, bar victory in the 2023 Carling Knockout. They have also been on a poor run of late with no wins in six games and were beaten 2-0 at home by Chiefs in their league opener this campaign. It was a fortuitous win for the visitors, but Stellies have been a shadow of their former selves this campaign.
RICHARDS BAY FC VS CHIPPA UNITED
Sunday, October 5, 15h00 SAST
Chippa United’s form this season has been a real concern and they sit bottom of the league with a single win in nine games. They have coach Luc Eymael in charge, who led Free State Stars to the 2018 Nedbank Cup, but things don’t look to be getting much better. Richards Bay have seen their form pick up after a sticky start to the season and are building some momentum. As the home team, you would expect them to win, and have done so already against Chippa this campaign with a 1-0 league success in August.
Sunday, October 5, 18h00 SAST
There are two things surprising about this tie. Firstly, a proud club like AmaZulu have only ever won a single knockout trophy in their 83-year history and that was the Coca-Cola Cup in 1992, which has since morphed into the Carling Knockout. The other odd fact is that Magesi FC are the defending champions of the trophy! They stunned Mamelodi Sundowns in last years’ final. They also beat Orlando Pirates on the way to lifting the trophy, so certainly did it the hard way. These two sides have already played to a 1-1 draw in Limpopo in the league this season, while Usuthu won home and away in the previous campaign.