Thapelo Xoki (born Thapelo Nyongo; 10 April 1995) is a South African

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who plays as a defender for

South African Premier Division The South African Premier Division, officially referred to as the DStv Premiership for sponsorship purposes, is the premier men's professional football/soccer league and the highest division in the league system of South Africa, organized sinc ...

side

Orlando Pirates Orlando Pirates Football Club (often known as "The Buccaneers") is a South African professional football club based in the Houghton suburb of the city of Johannesburg and plays in the top-tier system of Football in South Africa known as DStv ...

and the South Africa national team.

Early and personal life

He was born in

Khayelitsha Khayelitsha () is a township in Western Cape, South Africa, on the Cape Flats in the City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality. The name is Xhosa for ''New Home''. It is reputed to be the largest

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

. He attended Thembelihle Senior Secondary School. He changed his surname from Nyongo to Xoki in 2019.

Club career

He started playing for Cape Town Liverpool before joining the Old Mutual Academy in Cape Town in 2012. He joined

AmaZulu Zulu people (; zu, amaZulu) are a Nguni ethnic group native to Southern Africa. The Zulu people are the largest ethnic group and nation in South Africa, with an estimated 10–12 million people, living mainly in the province of KwaZulu-Nata ...

in 2014, signing his first professional contract lasting until summer 2017. On June 13, 2022, the defender made a move to the Soweto Giants, Orlando Pirates.

International career

Xoki made his debut for the senior South Africa national team on 21 March 2024 in a friendly against Andorra.

Honours

South Africa *

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internati ...

third place:

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

References

1995 births Living people South African men's soccer players South Africa men's international soccer players People from the City of Cape Town Men's association football defenders AmaZulu F.C. players Orlando Pirates F.C. players South African Premier Division players National First Division players 2023 Africa Cup of Nations players {{SouthAfrica-footy-bio-stub