It is going to be a race to the finish in the second half of the Premier Soccer League season, with matches coming thick and fast in league and cup competitions.
The Africa Cup of Nations finals are now becoming a distant memory for Bafana Bafana fans, but club football will be back with a bang, with domestic action set to resume in 10 days’ time.
League leaders Orlando Pirates have played only 12 of their 30 matches in the championship, leaving 18 still to come, though they are unburdened by an early exit from the CAF Champions League.
Second-placed Mamelodi Sundowns must still play 17 league games and, if they go all the way in the Champions League and Nedbank Cup, as they will hope to do, it would mean 34 matches to be played in 18 weeks, which is an incredibly heavy schedule.
It is for this reason that, with their two-point lead and a game in hand, Pirates are perhaps favourites to end Sundowns’ eight-year title-winning run in the Premiership.
The first game upon resumption is an unusual Monday night clash between Sundowns and Orbit College on January 19.
The CAF Champions League and Confederation Cup resume on the weekend of January 23–25 with matchday three of the group stages, and are set to continue for the following three weekends in a row, ending on February 13–15.
The quarterfinals are scheduled for mid-March and the semi-finals for mid-April, with the two legs of the Champions League final set for May 17 and May 24.
However, that does coincide with the final day of the Premiership, which is set for May 23, and the league has a rule that all teams must play their final fixtures simultaneously.
It means that if Sundowns reach the Champions League final and are still in the running for the title, or even CAF qualification next season, it would pose a real problem for the league.
The two-legged Confederation Cup final, where Kaizer Chiefs and Stellenbosch FC will hope to appear, is scheduled for May 9 and 16.
The PSL has no real wiggle room with the league finish, as FIFA has stated that players selected for 2026 World Cup squads must be released by May 25, and Bafana Bafana have their opening match against Mexico on June 11.
So unless the league is completed without those players, which seems inconceivable, as Pirates and Sundowns make up the bulk of the Bafana Bafana squad, the end of the league season can only be shifted earlier.
The Nedbank Cup final has been moved to May 2, its earliest-ever slot and away from its traditional role of bringing down the curtain on the season, but this is also understandable and wise.
The Nedbank Cup Last 32 draw has been set for Thursday next week, and the competition itself is scheduled to kick off in a window from February 4–10.
It will be a whistlestop run through the competition, which is far more condensed this season, with dates set for the Last 16 (February 21–24), quarterfinals (March 7–8) and semi-finals (April 4–5).
There is a FIFA international window from March 21–30, when Bafana Bafana will fine-tune their preparations for the World Cup.
The PSL Promotion/Relegation Play-Offs are due to begin on May 26 and will run into the World Cup, with the final round of matches set for June 13, two days after Bafana Bafana’s opening game.
Key dates in the second half of the 2025/26 Premier Soccer League season:
19 Jan: Betway Premiership resumes
23-25 Jan: CAF Interclub Group Stage MD3
30 Jan-1 Feb: CAF Interclub Group Stage MD4
4-10 Feb: Nedbank Cup Last 32
6-8 Feb: CAF Interclub Group Stage MD5
13-15 Feb: CAF Interclub Group Stage MD6
21-24 Feb: Nedbank Cup Last 16
7-8 March: Nedbank Cup Quarterfinals
13-15 March: CAF Interclub Quarterfinals, first leg
20-22 March: CAF Interclub Quarterfinals, second leg
23-31 March: FIFA International Window
4 April: Nedbank Cup semifinals
10-12 April: CAF Interclub Semifinals, first leg
17-19 April: CAF Interclub Semifinals, second leg
2 May: Nedbank Cup Final
9 May: CAF Confederation Cup Final, first leg
16 May: CAF Confederation Cup Final, second leg
17 May: CAF Champions League Final, first leg
23 May: Betway Premiership final day
24 May: CAF Champions League Final, second leg
26 May: PSL Promotion/Relegation Play-Offs MD1
30 May: PSL Promotion/Relegation Play-Offs MD2
1-9 June: FIFA International Window
3 June: PSL Promotion/Relegation Play-Offs MD3
6 June: PSL Promotion/Relegation Play-Offs MD4
10 June: PSL Promotion/Relegation Play-Offs MD5
11 June: 2026 FIFA World Cup starts
13 June: PSL Promotion/Relegation Play-Offs MD6
