Roger De Sa off to the 2026 FIFA World Cup

Roger de Sa, who kept goal for Bafana Bafana and took Orlando Pirates to the African Champions League final, will be heading to this year’s World Cup as an assistant coach with Ghana.

The 61-year-old De Sa will again be deputy to veteran Portuguese coach Carlos Queiroz, with whom he understudied at the 2010 finals with Portugal and at the last World Cup in Qatar with Iran.

De Sa also worked with Queiroz when Egypt reached the Africa Cup of Nations final in Yaoundé, Cameroon in early 2022, losing to Senegal on penalties.

The last two jobs that Queiroz had in charge of Qatar and Oman also saw De Sa serve as assistant coach, and now they will work together with Ghana, who appointed Queiroz as their new coach only months before the World Cup kicks off.

The Black Stars fired coach Otto Addo in panic after losing their two March friendlies to Austria and Germany and within days had the 73-year-old Queiroz picked to replace him.

De Sa is a long-trusted confidant of Queiroz, having first worked with him when he served as South Africa coach between 2000 and 2002. De Sa was then the goalkeeper coach.

In his own right, De Sa has coached at Wits University, Santos, Pirates, Ajax Cape Town, and Platinum Stars with more than 500 matches in charge in the top flight of South African football.

His playing career took in stints at Benoni, Moroka Swallows and Mamelodi Sundowns and he won a cap for South Africa in 1993.

Queiroz and De Sa have little time to get ready for the World Cup but have two friendlies before the tournament in North America kicks off.

Ghana will face Mexico in New York on 22 May and Wales in Cardiff on 2 June.

At the finals, the Black Stars are in Group L where they face Croatia, England, and Panama.