FIFA U-17 World Cup: Amajimbos lose to Italy but qualify for knockout round

South Africa suffered a heavy loss in their final group game at the 2025 FIFA Under-17 World Cup in Qatar but still made it to the knockout round.

Amajimbos were beaten 3-1 by Italy in Doha on Sunday but with Bolivia and hosts Qatar playing out a goalless draw, South Africa qualified as runners-up from Group A.

Italy went ahead after just four minutes through Samuele Inacio but South Africa would restore parity in the 31^st minute through Shaun Els.

However, that turned out to be the only goal for Vela Khumalo’s boys as the Italians went ahead again after the break, Antonio Arena, scoring their second in the 55^th minute.

Amajimbos finished second in Group A

Inacio would complete his brace three minutes later and South Africa had no answers as they tried without success to get a foothold into the game.

Italy thought they had gotten a chance to make it 4-1 when the referee pointed to the spot after a foul but a VAR check found that the infringement had been out of the danger zone and let Amajimbos off the hook.

South Africa headed into the match needing to win to top the group or a draw to make it to the knockout round but their cause was aided by Bolivia’s result against the hosts.

Amajimbos ended the group phase with four points from three games after their opening 3-1 win over Bolivia followed by a 1-1 draw with Qatar.