“It's very hard for me to accept”

The South African stopper was not included by coach Hugo Broos (74) in the squad for the final tournament hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada.

Ngezana he injured his meniscus in the winter, when he was with the South African national team at the Africa Cup.

Siyabonga Ngezana on surgery and missing 2026 World Cup: 'One of the hardest decisions of my life'

After the injury, the defender returned to FCSB and chose to postpone the surgery, fearing that an operation could take him out of the calculations for the World Championship.

Ngezana did not have surgery immediately, but was also unable to perform due to medical problems and missed the call-up for the final tournament. After the surgery, the defender is expected to return to the field in about three months.

“Obviously, I made the decision, one of the hardest of my life, to have the surgery. Obviously, it wasn't part of the plan to do it at the moment. I wanted to have the surgery after the World Cup because I didn't want to miss it. The plan was not to miss the World Cup.

It was a huge sacrifice just to stay ready, even though I knew I wasn't at 100% capacity. I just wanted to be part of the World Cup squad, whether I was playing or not.

I wanted to be there so much. But according to the will of God, it was not to be, but it is okay and I accept the situation. It's a very hard pill to swallow, to accept that I'm only now starting to heal.

It was a difficult season for me, where I played in great pain for seven months, refusing surgery just to not miss the World Cup. In the end, things didn't go as we planned or as we thought,” said Siyabonga Ngezana, according to FarPost.

• Last season, Ngezana made 34 appearances for FCSB, totaling 2,852 minutes. He managed a goal and an assist.

• According to the specialist website Transfermarkt, he is valued at 2 million euros and has 11 caps for the South African national team. Throughout his career he has only played for Kaizer Chiefs.

I lost a lot of games sitting on the touchline because of this injury. I had a lot of jumps, because when I came back, I injured myself again.

So now was the right time for me to have the surgery and I hope to recover quickly. It's the meniscus, not the anterior cruciate ligament.

It only lasts a maximum of two or three months, depending on one's genetics. I am from Africa and hope to recover quickly.

– Siyabonga Ngezanathe FCSB stopper