South African Jayden Adams dies at age 25 after playing in the World Cup!
Nairobi, July 11 (EFE)
South African midfielder Jayden Adams has died at the age of 25, days after playing for his national team in the 2016 FIFA World Cup, South Africa’s Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture, Gayton McKenzie, confirmed on Saturday.
“It is with profound dismay and great sadness that I have received the news of the passing of Jayden Adams, midfielder for Mamelodi Sundowns and the South African national team,” McKenzie said in a statement.
The minister stressed that the cause of Adams’ death “has not yet been confirmed” and urged the media and the public to act with “discretion and compassion” and refrain from “speculating.”
The athlete’s body was discovered on a property in the Schotsche Kloof neighborhood in central Cape Town (southwest), police confirmed, adding that an investigation has been launched.
McKenzie emphasized that South African football “has lost one of its brightest young talents.”
“Our nation,” the minister added, “joins in mourning with his family, his teammates, and the millions of fans who watched him grow from his early days as a promising youth player to becoming a full international with the South African national team.”
Adams’ death came after his grandmother, Marianna Adams, passed away at the age of 72 in a hospital in Stellenbosch, about 50 kilometers from Cape Town, on June 17.
His grandmother’s death occurred the day before Bafana Bafana—as the South African national team is popularly known—faced the Czech Republic in the World Cup in Atlanta, USA.
Despite the pain of losing his grandmother, Adams started in that match, which South Africa drew 1-1.
Then, on June 25, he came on as a substitute in the historic 1-0 victory against South Korea in Guadalupe, Mexico, which secured the country’s first-ever qualification for the World Cup round of 16.
His grandmother was buried on June 27, while Adams was with the national team in the United States.
“The fact that he chose to wear the national team jersey and give his all for his country at that moment demonstrates a maturity and professionalism far beyond his years, and reflects the human qualities of this young man that South Africa has lost,” McKenzie recalled.
Born in Cape Town on May 5, 2001, Adams came through the Stellenbosch FC academy and became the club’s first academy graduate to sign a professional contract in August 2020.
Mamelodi Sundowns signed him to a three-and-a-half-year contract in January 2025.
At that club, Adams became a regular midfielder, wearing the number 8 jersey, and helped the team win the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Champions League this season.
