After his omission from Bafana Bafana's FIFA World Cup preliminary squad, Mohau Nkota posted a picture of himself in bed with a leg brace on his Instagram story, writing: "Better days are on the way; just wait," along with a bandaged heart emoji.
Nkota has missed the last three games for Saudi Pro League side Al Ettifaq. His last appearance saw him start in a 0-0 draw with Al-Najma before he was replaced by Mukhtar Ali around the 70-minute mark.
The reason for Nkota's subsequent absence was not immediately clear, and he has been in and out of the team in recent months amid a family bereavement and inconsistent form, but evidence now suggests it is injury-related.
Nkota began his Saudi Pro League season in sublime fashion and started Bafana Bafana's first game at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) - a 2-1 win over Angola in Marrakech.
However, an indifferent performance saw him hauled off at half-time, with Tshepang Moremi making a decisive impact off the bench in his place - assisting Lyle Foster's winner.
Nkota was an unused substitute in the 1-0 loss to Egypt, but made his next and most recent appearance for Bafana off the bench in a 3-2 win over Zimbabwe. He was back out of the XI for the entirety of the 2-1 last 16 defeat to Cameroon.
The former Orlando Pirates star was left out of Hugo Broos' squad for back-to-back home March friendlies against Panama. However, Broos appeared sympathetic to his situation at the time, citing the loss of his place in his club team and the family tragedy Nkota suffered as reasons for not calling him up.
Nkota appeared to have improved his chances in subsequent games by recovering something close to peak form in Saudi Arabia.
As a winger who also has experience playing upfront and more recently as a wing-back, he could have added value to Broos' side in multiple positions.
Nkota's agents, P Management, subsequently posted on their Instagram: "Mohau Nkota sustained an injury during training on the 11th of May 2026. Get well soon."