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Newly signed Orlando Pirates attacker Andre de Jongh.
Newly signed Orlando Pirates attacker Andre de Jongh believes his move to the Sea Robbers greatly improves his chances of playing at the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the US, Mexico and Canada.
Speaking to the media at Rand Stadium, De Jong, who joined Pirates from Stellenbosch FC just last month, also recently returned to the New Zealand senior national team.
With Pirates being a high-profile team on the continent, the 29-year-old says this helps his World Cup selection chances.
“I think it’s massive and this was one of the reasons why the move was so big for me, obviously close to the World Cup selection coming up,” said de Jong.
“The All Whites have a couple of games in March back home, so I would really be keen to be involved in that, and I think anyone in the PSL is pushing – obviously Bafana are at the World Cup as well, so I think it’s lifting the standard of competition at Pirates as well.
“We’ve got nine players who were called up for AFCON and a lot of other people have aspirations to make the World Cup for Bafana, so I think there’s tons of competition and hopefully I can grab that opportunity for the All Whites.”
Next month at home, the All Whites have two international friendlies against Finland on 27 March and Chile three days later, as part of the FIFA Series 2026.
These are the matches De Jong is hoping to be part of, with selectors following his progress at Pirates.
“I hope so as well, the games in March will be interesting if I can get called up to that, but I think it’s starting to settle into people how big the move was over on that side of the world,” said de Jong.
“Obviously these games, playing Sundowns and a sold-out Chiefs as well already are huge for my career, so hopefully I can get some minutes on the pitch and really stake a claim to make that World Cup squad.”
