Three South Africans in UCL action: Mofokeng with Union, McCarthy with Sabah and Links with Aarhus.

It was a mixed night for South Africans in Europe as three SA players featured in Tuesday’s (11/Aug/2026) UEFA Champions League qualifiers, with Relebohile Mofokeng bowing out with Union SG while Gift Links and Aden McCarthy were in action for AGF and Sabah respectively.

Mofokeng makes late cameo as Union crash out

Relebohile Mofokeng featured for Royal Union Saint-Gilloise but it wasn’t enough to prevent a Champions League exit.

Union lost 3-2 away to Bodo/Glimt on the night, going down 6-5 on aggregate in a thriller in Norway.

The former Orlando Pirates winger came on in the 91st minute of extra-time and was given a 6.3/10 rating for his brief appearance.

Despite the disappointment, Union drop into the UEFA Europa League league phase. They could now face European heavyweights like Juventus, AC Milan & Bayer Leverkusen.

McCarthy through, Links exits with AGF

In Azerbaijan, Kaizer Chiefs product Aden McCarthy and Sabah FK progressed to the UCL play-off round after a dominant 4-0 win over AGF Aarhus. Sabah won 5-2 on aggregate.

McCarthy was an unused substitute for the Azerbaijani side. They will now face either Hapoel Be’er Sheva of Israel or Red Star Belgrade of Serbia in the play-offs for a spot in the Champions League group stage.

On the other side, Bafana Bafana wing-back Gift Links played 64 minutes for AGF but couldn’t prevent elimination. The Danish side’s European campaign ends at this stage.