Ronwen Williams

Ronwen Williams
Uganda Cranes host South Africa in AFCON2025 qualifiers
Williams playing for South Africa in 2024
Personal information
Full name Ronwen Hayden Williams[1]
Date of birth (1992-01-21) 21 January 1992[1]
Place of birth Gqeberha, South Africa
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Position Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team
 Mamelodi Sundowns
Number 30
Youth career
Shatterprufe Rovers
Tottenham Hotspur
SuperSport United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2010–2022 SuperSport United 278 (0)
2022– Mamelodi Sundowns 91 (0)
International career‡
2011 South Africa U20 2 (0)
2021 South Africa Olympic 3 (0)
2014– South Africa 66 (0)
Medal record
Representing  South Africa
Men's football
Africa Cup of Nations
Third place2023 Ivory Coast
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 3 January 2026
‡ National team caps and goals as of 16:05, 29 June 2026 (UTC)

Ronwen Hayden Williams (born 21 January 1992) is a South African professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for Premier Soccer League club Mamelodi Sundowns and captains the South Africa national team.

He was ranked the ninth best goalkeeper in the world at the 2024 Ballon d'Or awards.[2]

Club career

Early career

Williams spent part of his youth career with Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur.[3]

SuperSport United

Williams joined SuperSport United as a youth player in 2004. He made his debut in the CAF Champions League in January 2012 against Matlama FC, and in the PSL four months later against Free State Stars. He kept clean sheets in both games.[4]

Mamelodi Sundowns

On 21 July 2022, Williams signed with Mamelodi Sundowns after a 12-year career at SuperSport United.[5] He made his debut in the 2022–23 opener against Cape Town City FC where he made a string of great saves and kept a clean sheet.[6] He won the African Football League with Mamelodi Sundowns in 2023 where he made two important penalties saves one against Al Ahly and the other one against CA Petróleos Luanda.

On 17 June 2025, Williams became the first player penalized under FIFA's new eight-second ball possession rule when he held onto the ball for 14 seconds. The rule was enforced for the first time during the FIFA Club World Cup match against South Korea's Ulsan Hyundai.[7]

International career

Williams made his first appearance for South Africa on 5 March 2014, in a friendly against Brazil, due to a sprained ankle suffered by the first-choice keeper, Itumeleng Khune.[8][9]

In August 2021, the new South Africa coach Hugo Broos named Williams as the new Bafana Bafana captain, taking the armband from Thulani Hlatshwayo who failed to make the squad.[10]

On 3 February 2024, in South Africa's 2023 AFCON quarter-final match against Cape Verde, the game was drawn at 0–0 after extra time. Williams saved 4 penalties in the penalty shootout, taking Bafana Bafana through to an AFCON semi-final for the first time since 2000.[11] Although South Africa lost to Nigeria in the semi-finals in another penalty shootout, Williams went ahead to win the Best Goalkeeper of the tournament.[12]

On 1 December 2025, Williams was called up to the South Africa squad for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.[13]

On 28 May 2026, he was selected by manager Hugo Broos to represent his nation at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.[14][15]

Career statistics

International

As of match played 28 June 2026[16]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
South Africa 201420
201610
201720
201810
201970
202030
202190
202250
202360
2024140
2025100
202660
Total650

Honours

Supersport United

Mamelodi Sundowns

South Africa

Individual

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Squad List: FIFA Club World Cup 2025: Mamelodi Sundowns FC (RSA)" (PDF). FIFA. 12 June 2025. Retrieved 14 June 2025.
  2. ↑ "Ronwen Williams places ninth for Yashin Trophy at Ballon d'Or awards | soccer". SABC. 29 October 2024. Retrieved 6 November 2024.
  3. ↑ Modise, Jimmy (5 June 2017). "7 Things You Didn't Know About Ronwen Williams". Diski 365. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  4. ↑ "SuperSport". supersport.com. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  5. ↑ "Mamelodi Sundowns | Ronwen Williams Joins Masandawana!". Mamelodi Sundowns | Official Website. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  6. ↑ "Mamelodi Sundowns 2-0 Cape Town City (5 Aug, 2022) Final Score – ESPN (UK)". ESPN. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
  7. ↑ "Club World Cup 2025: Tournament's new innovations to football". BBC Sport. 20 June 2025. Retrieved 23 June 2025.
  8. ↑ "Williams set for dream Bafana debut". eNCA. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
  9. ↑ "Williams makes international debut | The New Age Online". Thenewage.co.za. Archived from the original on 5 March 2014. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
  10. ↑ "Broos names Williams as Bafana Bafana skipper, Tau deputy captain". Sowetanlive. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  11. ↑ "SA goalkeeper saves four penalties in shootout win". BBC Sport. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
  12. 1 2 "TotalEnergies CAF AFCON Cote d'Ivoire 2023 Awards". CAF Online. Confederation of African Football. 11 February 2024. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
  13. ↑ "TotalEnergies AFCON Morocco 2025 fever rises as Broos become first coach to unveil final squad". Confederation of African Football. 1 December 2025. Retrieved 12 December 2025.
  14. ↑ "La liste de l'Afrique du Sud pour le Mondial, adversaire du Mexique dans le match d'ouverture de la Coupe du monde". L'Équipe (in French). 28 May 2026. Retrieved 9 June 2026.
  15. ↑ "Ronwen Williams: Stars of Soccer, World Cup 2026". The New York Times. 26 June 2026. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 1 August 2026.
  16. ↑ Ronwen Williams at National-Football-Teams.com
  17. ↑ "South Africa secure TotalEnergies CAF AFCON bronze after shootout". CAF Online. Confederation of African Football. 10 February 2024. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  18. ↑ "CAF TSG Group releases TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nation Cote d'Ivoire 2023 Best XI". CAF Online. Confederation of African Football. 14 February 2024. Archived from the original on 14 February 2024. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
  19. 1 2 "Lookman, Banda and Williams are big winners at 2024 CAF Awards in Marrakech, Morocco". CAF Online. Confederation of African Football. Retrieved 16 December 2024.
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