South Africa have fired coach Molefi Ntseki after the team's surprise failure to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations finals that will take place in Cameroon early next year.

The 1996 champions finished third in the qualification pool behind Ghana and Sudan, losing 2-0 to the latter on Sunday in Khartoum when a draw would have been enough to seal their place in the finals.

Ntseki was elevated from the country's Under-17 side when he took over in August 2019 and won four of his nine games in charge, but had been mandated to reach next year's continental showpiece event.

South Africa will begin their campaign to qualify for the 2022 World Cup in June having been drawn in a preliminary pool with Ghana, Zimbabwe and Ethiopia.

Only the top team in the group will advance to the final knockout round of qualifying.

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