Portsmouth man's worst fears confirmed after suffering international heartbreak
The midfielder has been overlooked by South Africa since joining the Blues in July 2025
He joined Pompey to strengthen his World Cup dream, but Luke Le Roux’s heartbreak is now confirmed.
By his own previous admission, the midfielder’s Fratton Park move had backfired in terms of his international aspirations after failing to establish himself in John Mousinho’s first-team.
Now Le Roux, who was a starter for South Africa before his July 2026 switch to the Blues, has been left out of their squad for the 2026 World Cup finals.
Certainly the writing had been on the wall for the 26-year-old, who has never added to his eight caps since leaving IFK Varnam to further his career in Championship.
Indeed, he was left out of boss Hugo Broos’ preliminary 32-man squad almost a fortnight ago, with Durban City’s Brooklyn Poggenpoel regarded as being selected ahead of him.
Now Bafana Bafana’s final 26-man squad has been submitted, with neither Le Roux or Poggenpoel named in the country’s first World Cup finals since hosting them in 2010.
The sole UK-based inclusion is Burnley’s Lyle Foster, who scored three goals in 26 Premier League appearances last season as they suffered relegation.
In contrast, Le Roux appeared just 16 times in his maiden Fratton Park campaign, albeit featuring in four of Pompey’s final eight games, including three starts, in an encouraging end to the year.
‘That was one of the reasons why I came to England’
‘I also missed the African Cup of Nations in January because of game time. Now I've had a few games, I don't know if it’s enough for the national team.
‘Let’s see what happens, but I don’t have any contact with the national team, nothing.
‘I have played a few times for South Africa, especially under this coach, but then I lost my place when I didn’t get enough game time, which is understandable. I don’t know if the games late in the season for Pompey is enough, we’ll see.
‘It’s really frustrating because the World Cup is everyone’s dream. Everyone wants to be at the World Cup, whether it’s with South Africa, England, Spain, Germany, just representing your country is probably one of the biggest achievements.
‘There are a good group of midfielders for my country, mostly playing back home in South Africa, playing regularly. So I think it’s more about the coach always selects players who are playing a lot.’
Africa Cup of Nations Rejection
In November, Le Roux was named in South Africa’s 54-player preliminary squad for the Africa Cup of Nations.
However, with those numbers required to be cut to a squad of 23, the midfielder was excluded and missed out as his team-mates reached the last 16 before being eliminated by Cameron.
His last intentional appearance was in June 2025, when South Africa beat Mozambique 2-0 in a friendly.
Le Roux is contracted to Pompey until the summer of 2028, having signed a three-year deal after joining from Sweden.