Western Cape ABC Motsepe League side Vasco da Gama will return for a second season in a row to the Last 32 of the Nedbank Cup, but will hope for an improvement on their showing 12 months ago.

The former top-flight side are now in the third tier and defeated SAFA Regional League side Trinitarians FC 1-0 in the provincial final played this past weekend to book their place in the competition proper.

There they will host fellow third-tier side Luthuli Brigades from Mpumalanga in a fixture both might see as an excellent chance to advance to the Last 16.

Vasco appeared in the first round in 2025 but lost 7-0 to top-flight TS Galaxy, their biggest ever loss in the Nedbank Cup and the biggest win in Galaxy’s history.

It was a chastening experience, but one they will have learned plenty from as they look ahead to a clean slate in 2026.

Vasco have undergone several changes of ownership over the years and most recently sold their second-tier status to the group that created current top-flight side Stellenbosch FC ahead of the 2016/17 season.

They are back in the ABC Motsepe League after winning promotion at the end of the 2023/24 campaign.

The Cape Town club campaigned in the Betway Premiership in the 2010/11 season but, after a good start in the first half of the year, fell away badly and were relegated via the play-offs.

Vasco’s first appearance in the Nedbank Cup came in 2008, when they beat third-tier Classic 3-2 in the first round before going down 5-0 to top-flight AmaZulu in the Last 16.

They lost 5-1 to the University of Pretoria in the first round in 2010 and made it all the way to the quarterfinals in 2011 before losing 3-2 to eventual finalists Black Leopards.

They lost 2-1 to SuperSport United in the second round in 2013, and the following year did not get past the preliminaries.

They made it all the way to the semifinals in 2015, beating Winners Park (3-2), Maluti FET College (3-0) and Black Leopards (3-2), before losing 1-0 to eventual winners Mamelodi Sundowns.