PIC: Orlando Pirates’ Deon Hotto is challenged by Tlakusani Mthethwa of Richards Bay

The draw for the Last 32 of the Nedbank Cup has been completed with several opportunities for giant-killing acts as teams from the Betway Premiership take on clubs one or two divisions below them.
Kaizer Chiefs and Mamelodi Sundowns will each play third-tier opponents, while defending champions Orlando Pirates go to fellow topflight side Richards Bay.

Here is a quick guide to the first round fixtures that will be played around the weekend of January 24-26. The Premier Soccer League will announce the exact dates, times and venues in due course.

POLOKWANE CITY VS THE BEES FC
Polokwane City have been flying in the Premiership this season and will expect to swat away The Bees from the Mpumalanga ABC Motsepe League. But beware the sting in the tail of the visitors, who are making their debut in the competition and will be an unknown quantity. Polokwane have three times before lost to lower league opponents, including third-tier Roses United in 2012.

SEKHUKHUNE UNITED VS CAPE TOWN CITY
An all-Premiership clash between the 2023 finalists and a Cape Town City side who appear to have a new lease on life under Muhsin Ertugral. Sekhukhune won 1-0 when these sides met in Polokwane in early December, but City knocked them out of the MTN8 at the quarterfinal stage in Limpopo in August. In eight previous meetings there have been three wins each and two draws.

KAIZER CHIEFS VS FREE AGENTS FC
No team has been knocked out of the Nedbank Cup by lower league opponents more times than Kaizer Chiefs, including last year when they were beaten by second-tier Milford FC. They come up against fellow Gauteng side Free Agents, who campaign in the ABC Motsepe League and will be dreaming of the biggest moment of their football lives. A total of seven lower league teams have knocked Chiefs out of the competition in the previous 17 years of the Nedbank Cup.

MPHENI HOME DEFENDERS VS HUNGRY LIONS
Mpheni Home Defenders make a return to the Nedbank Cup after their debut in 2023 when they made the Last 16 but lost 2-0 to Chippa United. Hungry Lions will make a third appearance after reaching the Last 16 in both 2020 and 2024. In the first instance they lost on penalties to Baroka FC, and last year were defeated 4-0 by Orlando Pirates. 

MAGESI FC VS SUPERSPORT UNITED
An all-Premiership clash between Carling Knockout winners Magesi FC, who are also bottom of the league table, and SuperSport United, who have seen an uptick in their recent form. These teams met as recently as December 14, when a Bradley Grobler goal earned Matsatsantsa a 1-0 home win.

MAMELODI SUNDOWNS VS SIBANYE GOLDEN STARS
A David vs Goliath clash if ever there was one, the mighty Mamelodi Sundowns up against Free State ABC Motsepe League side Sibanye Golden Stars, who play in the Nedbank Cup for the first time since 2016. When they debuted nine years ago they lost 4-0 to Mbombela United. Sundowns have won all 20 previous ties against lower league teams in the Nedbank Cup, scoring 75 goals and conceding only five.  

ROYAL AM VS MILFORD FC
A KwaZulu-Natal provincial derby as topflight Royal AM welcome second-tier Milford FC, who knocked Chiefs out at the Last 32 stage in 2024. Milford are going well in the Motsepe Foundation Championship but it has been a season of toil for Royal AM, who find themselves in the lower half of the Premiership table 

RICHARDS BAY FC VS ORLANDO PIRATES
Pirates have not always had it their own way against Richards Bay, though they have won both league games which have already been played this season 1-0. The KwaZulu-Natal side beat them 1-0 in May, and three of the other four games have ended 0-0. Richards Bay knocked Pirates out of the Carling Knockout in 2023 on penalties. Pirates have won back-to-back Nedbank Cup titles and are chasing an unprecedented third triumph in a row this year.

VENDA FC VS CAPE TOWN SPURS
A clash between two second-tier rivals who are both struggling at the moment. Spurs beat another Limpopo club, Black Leopards, in the preliminary round, though they needed penalties to do it. No club has been involved in more penalty shoot-outs in the competition than Spurs (8). These sides met all the way back in August in Cape Town and Spurs won 1-0. There has never been an away win in five previous clashes between them.   

LAMONTVILLE GOLDEN ARROWS VS CHIPPA UNITED
Two old foes in the top-flight, the most common result between these sides is a draw. Nine of their previous 21 clashes have ended all square, suggesting this one might go to penalties. Golden Arrows have won seven and Chippa five, with one of those earlier this season when they claimed a 2-0 victory in Gqeberha in October.

TS GALAXY VS CR VASCO DA GAMA
Cape Town side Vasco da Gama were once a topflight team, long before TS Galaxy came into existence. But they dropped into the amateur ranks when they sold their second-tier status to the owners of Stellenbosch FC in 2016, and have campaigned there since. They meet 2019 winners TS Galaxy, who know a thing or two about an upset, and who are incredibly tough for anyone to beat in Mbombela. Vasco were semifinalists in 2015.  

STELLENBOSCH FC VS KRUGER UNITE
Stellenbosch have been to the semifinals of the Nedbank Cup for the last two seasons and will be desperate to one better this time round. They will fancy themselves in the Last 32 against second-tier Kruger United, though they were given a scare by Pretoria Callies at this stage in the last campaign. Kruger will be debuting in the Nedbank Cup and are going OK in their first season in the Motsepe Foundation Championship, sitting in seventh place. 

AMAZULU VS MIGHTY EAGLES
Eastern Cape ABC Motsepe League side Mighty Eagles make the trip up the coast to AmaZulu, who old the unenviable record of having been in the Nedbank Cup final in its various guises down the years six times and lost on each occasion. Could this finally be the year? Usuthu have lost to lower league opposition four times before, most recently in 2023 when they fell in the Last 16 to Dondol Stars.

LERUMO LIONS VS DURBAN CITY
Third-tier Lerumo Lions from the North West ABC Motsepe League host Durban City, who have been rebranded this year from Maritzburg United. The latter were beaten finalists in the Nedbank Cup in 2018, when they lost to Free State Stars. Lions are making their debut in the competition and are led by player-coach Mkhanyiseli Siwahla, who still holds the record as the youngest player and goalscorer in the South African league when he turned out for Ajax Cape Town aged 15 years and 174 days in 2004.  

UMVOTI FC VS BAROKA FC
KwaZulu-Natal third-tier side Umvoti have played in the Nedbank Cup before when they lost 3-1 to TS Galaxy in the Last 32 in 2019. They are back again and start against a team that is synonymous with upsets in the competition, Baroka FC. It is now 14 years since the latter announced themselves on the national stage as a third-tier side with wins over Moroka Swallows and Kaizer Chiefs on their way to the Nedbank Cup semifinals.

PRETORIA CALLIES VS MARUMO GALLANTS
This would have been a second-tier clash last season but Gallants purchased the status of Moroka Swallows and have moved up to the Premiership. Callies make a fourth Nedbank Cup appearance since 2021 and made it all the way to the semifinals that year before losing to Chippa United. They have gone out in the Last 32 on their other two appearances. Gallants are former winners after they, then named TTM, beat Chippa in that 2021 decider.