Following his father’s path, Jaylen Potgieter dreams of bigger U17 AFCON and World Cup success

By Velile Mnyandu
8th May 2026

When former Ajax Cape Town and Orlando Pirates midfielder-cum-wing back Shaun Potgieter burst onto the scene in the late 90’s in South African football, he was just a promising teenager, and now his son is following in his footsteps.

Jaylen Potgieter of FC Köln is part of the Amajimbos squad that will depart for the annual U17 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) on Sunday and is also itching to make his debut for his country. The German-based Potgieter Junior (16) is on his first camp with Amajimbos and raving about this opportunity.

"Honestly, I'm super happy to be back with all my teammates. Whether it's speaking in English, Afrikaans or Zulu, I just feel at home, and ja, nothing more to say. To be honest, I haven't really thought about German call-ups or South African call-ups. I was just happy to get my first South African call-up, and I am very grateful to be here paying for South Africa under-17," said Potgieter

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Potgieter Senior is also a former U17 and U20 junior international and played in a team that was full of talent with the likes of Steven Pienaar, Andile Cele, and Brett Evans.

Potgieter Senior is also a former SABC employee, having worked in the finance department before they relocated to Germany with the family. Jaylen, a central attacking midfielder, will be looking to go further than his father, who was also a South African junior international. He’s also been enjoying his football in Germany.

Before they departed for Europe, Jaylen had been playing football locally, and now he’s reunited with some of the players he played with and is already enjoying being back home. He’s also relishing the opportunity to play at the AFCON and hopefully qualify for the World Cup in Qatar later this year to emulate last year’s team that was led by Emile Witbooi.

Amajimbos head coach Vela Khumalo, has also been raving about young Potgieter’s potential and after watching him at training for the past week or so, he says they’ve talented player who is going to contribute positively to their squad as they look forward to their opening game against Senegal next week in Morocco.