South Africa's Carling Knockout Cup will kick off on Saturday, with all 16 Premiership teams playing their first matches in this edition of the single-leg knockout tournament between then and Wednesday.
The 'big three' of Orlando Pirates, Kaizer Chiefs and Mamelodi Sundowns are all scheduled to play on Tuesday evening. Defending champions Pirates will face recently-promoted Milford FC, while African champions Sundowns will play Marumo Gallants and Kaizer Chiefs will face TS Galaxy.
This will be the fourth edition of the tournament since the tournament formerly known as the Telkom Knockout was reintroduced to the South African football calendar in 2023 with a new sponsor after a three-year hiatus.
The League cup was initially played in 1982 as the Datsun Challenge. In its history since, it has at various stages been known as the Coca-Cola Cup, Rothmans Cup and John Player Special (JPS) Knockout Cup.
Orlando Pirates won last year's tournament, beating Marumo Gallants 1-0 after extra time in the final, which was Mbekezeli Mbokazi's last game for the club before his departure to Chicago Fire. To this day, it remains unclear whether Relebohile Mofokeng or Yanela Mbuthuma got the final touch for the winner.
What is certain is that after clinching a second cup of the season (having previously won the 2025 MTN8), the Buccaneers went on to win their first Premiership title in 14 years.
Carling Cup format
All knockout ties from the round of 16 to the final will be decided across one leg. If ties are level after 90 minutes, they proceed to extra time and potentially penalties.
The top eight teams in last season's Premiership were seeded for the draw, with the remaining eight teams in the competition unseeded. As a result, last season's top eight could not have been drawn against each other for the round of 16, but subsequently, they could run into each other.
Carling Cup fixtures
Saturday, Oct. 24
Golden Arrows vs. Chippa United, 3 p.m., King Zwelithini Stadium
Polokwane City vs. Siwelele FC, 6 p.m., Old Peter Mokaba Stadium
Sunday, Oct. 25
Kruger United vs. AmaZulu, 3 p.m., Mbombela Stadium
Sekhukhune United vs. Richards Bay, 6 p.m., New Peter Mokaba Stadium
Tuesday, Oct. 27
Orlando Pirates vs. Milford FC, 7 p.m., Orlando Amstel Arena
Mamelodi Sundowns vs. Marumo Gallants, 7 p.m., Loftus Versfeld
Kaizer Chiefs vs. TS Galaxy, 7 p.m., FNB Stadium
Wednesday, Oct. 28
Durban City vs. Stellenbosch FC, 7 p.m., Chatsworth Stadium
How to watch the Carling Cup
All eight round of 16 games will air on SuperSport. Six of them will air on SuperSport PSL (channel 202) with the exceptions being Kaizer Chiefs vs. TS Galaxy (channel 205) and Mamelodi Sundowns vs. Marumo Gallants (channel 207).
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