Not every rising player is a teenager. Some take the long way round.
Brooklyn Poggenpoel has played in the National First Division, signed a one-year deal and watched a World Cup squad leave without him. Then, in Cairo at the end of September, Bathusi Aubaas went off injured early against Eritrea and the Durban City midfielder was sent on in his place. He stayed on for the rest of a 5-0 win. Now he is in the squad again for Kenya, and the Brooklyn Poggenpoel Bafana call-up no longer looks like a one-off. It looks like a player who has taken the long road and arrived.
Who he is
Poggenpoel was born in Cape Town on 3 October 1999, according to SAFA’s official player profiles, which makes him 27. SAFA lists him as a central midfielder.
The road to Chatsworth was a winding one. SAFA’s own squad lists place him at Old Mutual in 2017 and at Cape Umoya in 2019. SABC Sport describes him as a former Bidvest Wits academy player who turned out for All Stars in the National First Division before two years at Chippa United. SuperSport United signed him in August 2024 on a one-year deal, and in July 2025 he joined Durban City for the club’s first season in the Premiership.
That season brought a trophy. Durban City beat TS Galaxy 2-1 in the Nedbank Cup final in Polokwane on 2 May, the club’s first major trophy. On the way, in February, he scored his kick in the shootout that knocked out Chippa, his old club.
Why now: the Brooklyn Poggenpoel Bafana call, second time round
Pitso Mosimane first called him up for the September window, when Bafana opened AFCON 2027 qualifying against Guinea and Eritrea before a friendly against Egypt. Durban City described it as his first senior call-up, one of five maiden call-ups in that squad. SAFA’s records add a footnote: its player profiles list one earlier cap, against Mozambique at the 2024 COSAFA Cup.
There was a disappointment to get past first. He had been in the wider picture before the 2026 World Cup and missed the final squad. He told his club he never saw it as a setback.
Cairo changed his standing. With Aubaas gone, Poggenpoel slotted in, and by Durban City’s account he played the rest of the match. SAFA’s own report says he rose to the challenge and earned his coach’s praise. The club adds a detail worth remembering: his long ball found Oswin Appollis in the build-up to the fifth goal, which Appollis set up for Luther Singh.
He kept his place for Kenya, in the preliminary squad on 23 October and again in the final squad on 5 November. Business Day’s report on the preliminary list grouped him with Teboho Mokoena, Sphephelo Sithole, Aubaas and Lebohang Maboe in midfield. That is serious company for a player who was in the second tier not so long ago. Our Bafana AFCON 2027 qualifiers page follows the whole campaign.
Strengths and style
He is a central midfielder who does a bit of everything, and Durban City’s match reports read like a list of jobs done properly. At FNB Stadium in March he blocked a shot from Ashley du Preez. He has gone close with headers against Richards Bay and Mamelodi Sundowns, and he hit the outside of a post against Sekhukhune in the club’s first month in the Premiership.
He can supply from wide as well as through the middle. In Mauritius on 25 October, as Durban City finished off AS Port Louis 2000 6-1 on aggregate, his dangerous ball into the box nearly made it four on the night. The passing range is the part Bafana have already seen, with that long ball in Cairo. So is the nerve: he stepped up in the Chippa shootout and scored.
There is an edge to manage. In the MTN8 quarter-final against Orlando Pirates in August he was sent off in the 35th minute for the challenge on Tshepang Moremi that gave away a penalty. City battled for more than an hour a man short and lost in extra time.
Our view: he looks like the midfielder a coach can send on early without the level dropping, which is exactly what Bafana needed in Cairo. In a qualifying campaign, that is a real job.
What to watch next
Friday comes first. Bafana host Kenya at the Orlando Amstel Arena in Johannesburg on 13 November, with kick-off at 18:00, then travel to Nairobi for the return on Tuesday 17 November. Benni McCarthy’s Kenya are already through to the finals as co-hosts, and our explainer on how Group D works now Kenya are in sets out what is at stake. Whether Poggenpoel starts, comes off the bench or watches is Mosimane’s call.
Then Durban City take their own big step. The club reached the CAF Confederation Cup group stage for the first time, winning all four qualifying matches, and Group B, with AS FAR of Morocco, Azam of Tanzania and Libya’s Al Ahli Tripoli, starts on the weekend of 27 to 29 November, with fixtures still to be confirmed. Eric Tinkler, an AFCON winner with Bafana in 1996, took charge in October. There is league ground to make up too, after Sundowns beat them 4-1 before the break.
Plenty of rising players arrive at 19. Poggenpoel has arrived at 27, by way of the First Division, a one-year deal and a World Cup squad that went without him. Cairo showed he can step in without fuss. Watch the Bafana bench on Friday night, then watch Durban City in Africa.