Mbokazi and Dithejane join Lewandowski in Chicago Fire’s MLS Cup push

South Africa defender Mbekezeli Mbokazi has returned to action for Chicago Fire after recovering from a thigh injury suffered following the 2026 World Cup.

The 20-year-old is regarded as one of the most promising players in South African football and has already won 14 caps for Bafana Bafana. He played every minute of South Africa’s run to the Round of 32 at this summer’s World Cup.

Mbokazi joined Chicago in January after the MLS club agreed a $3m deal with Orlando Pirates. He started 12 of the Fire’s first 14 matches this season, completing 90 minutes in 11 of them, as the team lost only twice and climbed to third in the Eastern Conference.

After returning from international duty, Mbokazi tore a thigh muscle in training. His absence has coincided with a sharp decline in Chicago’s results: without him in the starting line-up, the Fire have won only three of 10 games and lost four.

He has recently resumed light training, and manager Gregg Berhalter hopes the defender can return to the centre of the defence before the playoffs begin.

The Fire’s other South African player, 22-year-old winger Puso Dithejane, has yet to represent South Africa at any level. However, his performances for TS Galaxy made him a highly regarded prospect before he moved to Chicago for $1.5m in January.

Dithejane spent two years at TS Galaxy and was particularly effective last season, scoring four goals and registering four assists. His highlights included a hat-trick in a 4-1 victory over Chippa United last August.

His route into the Chicago first team was slower than Mbokazi’s. He played only eight minutes in the Fire’s opening eight matches of the campaign, while being an unused substitute in five of those games.

Dithejane made his first start in April’s 5-0 win over Sporting Kansas City before returning to the bench. Since then, he has become a regular option from the substitutes’ bench, while also starting selected matches.

He scored after coming on during July’s 3-2 defeat by Inter Miami and then started and found the net in August’s 2-1 away win at Orlando. He is now being used as a rotation player, either starting or contributing during matches from the bench.

Chicago’s recent form has nevertheless been poor. A 2-1 home defeat by the New England Revolution extended their winless run to five matches, following four successive draws. Three of those draws came away from home, while the other was a 1-1 draw against Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami at Soldier Field, where more than 63,000 fans watched Robert Lewandowski score.

Lewandowski, 38, joined Chicago on a two-year contract after leaving Barcelona this summer. The Poland striker turned down approaches from Juventus and several Saudi Pro League clubs after a career that includes 669 goals, eight prolific years at Bayern Munich between 2014 and 2022, and 120 goals and three La Liga titles with Barcelona.

He has scored seven times in his first 14 MLS matches. Chicago remain fifth in the Eastern Conference, with Sportaza pricing them as 10/1 fifth-favourites for the MLS Cup. Defending champions Inter Miami are 9/2 favourites despite a 10-match winless run.