Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 9, 2026

Lyle Foster

Lyle Brent Foster is a South African professional soccer player who plays as a forward for EFL Championship club Burnley and the South Africa national team.

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Lyle Foster
Foster with Burnley in 2025
Personal information
Full name Lyle Brent Foster1
Date of birth (2000-09-03) 3 September 2000
Place of birth Carletonville, South Africa
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)2
Position Forward
Team information
Current team
 Burnley
Number 9
Youth career
–2017 Orlando Pirates
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2017–2019 Orlando Pirates 11 (1)
2019 Monaco II 8 (3)
2019–2020 Monaco 2 (0)
2019–2020 → Cercle Brugge (loan) 18 (1)
2020–2022 Vitória de Guimarães 5 (0)
2021 Vitória de Guimarães B 4 (0)
2021–2022 → Westerlo (loan) 23 (4)
2022–2023 Westerlo 21 (8)
2023– Burnley 89 (11)
International career‡
2016 South Africa U17 4 (1)
2017–2019 South Africa U20 7 (5)
2019–2021 South Africa U23 6 (0)
2018– South Africa 31 (10)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 16:09, 12 May 2026 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals as of 22:24, 29 May 2026 (UTC)

Lyle Brent Foster (born 3 September 2000) is a South African professional soccer player who plays as a forward for EFL Championship club Burnley and the South Africa national team.

Club career

Foster was promoted to the Orlando Pirates' first team for the 2017–18 season.3 On 15 September 2017, he made his professional debut against Maritzburg United.4 He was named among English newspaper The Guardian's top 60 most promising young players in the world.5 On 22 January 2018, he scored his first goal for Orlando Pirates in a 1–1 draw against Polokwane City.67

He signed for Monaco in January 2019 on a deal until June 2023,8 where he would begin on the reserve team.9

On 30 August 2019, Foster joined Monaco's feeder club Cercle Brugge in Belgium on a season-long loan.1011

On 13 August 2020, Foster joined Vitória de Guimarães for a transfer fee of 1.2 million euro.12 In 2021, he joined Westerlo on a season-long loan with an option-to-buy.13

In the summer of 2022, Foster moved to Westerlo on a permanent basis and signed a four-year contract with the club.14

In January 2023, Foster signed for EFL Championship club Burnley on a four-and-a-half-year contract.15 The transfer fee paid to Westerlo was reported as €7 million, a record for a South African player, which rose to €10 million after the Clarets guaranteed promotion to the Premier League.1617

On 26 October 2023, Foster signed a new five-year contract with Burnley.18 In November 2023, he was ruled out for an indefinite period following the reoccurrence of a mental health issue.19 He made his return after a two-month break when Burnley faced Everton20 and went on to score in their final fixture of the year against Aston Villa.21

International career

On 1 December 2025, Foster was called up to the South Africa squad for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.22

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 10 May 2026
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cupa League cupb Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Orlando Pirates 2017–1823 South African Premiership 9 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 11 1
Monaco II 2018–1923 Championnat National 2 8 3 — — — 8 3
Monaco 2018–1923 Ligue 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2019–2023 Ligue 1 2 0 — — — 2 0
Total 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
Cercle Brugge (loan) 2019–2023 Belgian Pro League 18 1 1 0 — — 19 1
Vitória de Guimarães B 2020–2123 Campeonato de Portugal 4 0 — — — 4 0
Vitória de Guimarães 2020–2123 Primeira Liga 5 0 1 0 1 0 — 7 0
Westerlo (loan) 2021–2223 Belgian First Division B 23 4 3 1 — — 26 5
Westerlo 2022–2323 Belgian Pro League 21 8 0 0 — — 21 8
Burnley 2022–2323 Championship 11 1 4 0 — — 15 1
2023–2423 Premier League 24 5 1 0 1 0 — 26 5
2024–2523 Championship 28 2 2 1 1 0 — 31 3
2025–2623 Premier League 26 3 1 0 0 0 — 27 3
Total 89 11 8 1 2 0 — 99 12
Career total 179 28 15 2 3 0 0 0 197 30

International

As of match played 29 May 202624
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
South Africa 2018 3 0
2020 2 0
2021 1 0
2022 3 1
2023 5 3
2024 4 2
2025 9 4
2026 4 0
Total 31 10
As of match played 29 December 2025
South Africa score listed first, score column indicates score after each Foster goal24
List of international goals scored by Lyle Foster
No. Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition Ref.
1 9 June 2022 Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, Rabat, Morocco 9  Morocco 1–0 1–2 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualification 25
2 24 March 2023 Orlando Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa 10  Liberia 1–0 2–2 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualification 26
3 2–0
4 12 September 2023 Orlando Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa 12  DR Congo 1–0 1–0 Friendly 27
5 6 September 2024 Orlando Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa 16  Uganda 1–0 2–2 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
6 11 October 2024 Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Gqeberha, South Africa 18  Congo 4–0 5–0 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
7 25 March 2025 Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium, Abidjan, Ivory Coast 20  Benin 1–0 2–0 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification
8 5 September 2025 Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein, South Africa 21  Lesotho 2–0 3–0 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification
9 22 December 2025 Marrakesh Stadium, Marrakesh, Morocco 25  Angola 2–1 2–1 2025 Africa Cup of Nations 28
10 29 December 2025 Marrakesh Stadium, Marrakesh, Morocco 27  Zimbabwe 2–1 3–2 2025 Africa Cup of Nations 29

Honours

Westerlo

Burnley

South Africa U20

References

References

  1. "FIFA U-20 World Cup Poland 2019: List of Players: South Africa" (PDF). FIFA. 13 June 2019. p. 20. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 February 2020.
  2. "L. Foster: Summary". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  3. "Pirates promote 17-year old Foster – Orlando Pirates FC". www.orlandopiratesfc.com. 7 September 2017. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
  4. "Augustine Mahlonoko – Remember the Name – Orlando Pirates FC". www.orlandopiratesfc.com. 5 August 2018. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
  5. "Pirates youngster named among world's best young talents". The Citizen (Zambia). 10 October 2017. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
  6. "Bucs held at home – Orlando Pirates FC". www.orlandopiratesfc.com. 20 January 2018. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
  7. "Foster Opens his account – Orlando Pirates FC". www.orlandopiratesfc.com. 22 January 2018. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
  8. "Lyle Foster joins AS Monaco". AS Monaco. 2 January 2019. Archived from the original on 15 February 2020. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  9. Okeleji, Oluwashina (2 January 2019). "Lyle Foster: South African teenager signs for Monaco". BBC. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  10. "Panzo and Foster join Cercle Brugge". AS Monaco. 30 August 2019. Archived from the original on 22 September 2023. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  11. "JONATHAN PANZO EN LYLE FOSTER NAAR CERCLE BRUGGE!" (Press release) (in Dutch). Cercle Brugge. 30 August 2019.
  12. "Foster garantido por 5 épocas" (in Portuguese). Vitória S.C. 13 August 2020. Archived from the original on 15 August 2020. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  13. "Lyle Foster emprestado ao KVC Westerlo" (in European Portuguese). Vitória Sport Clube. 31 August 2021. Archived from the original on 1 February 2023. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  14. "Lyle Foster signs for 4 seasons". Westerlo. Archived from the original on 13 May 2022. Retrieved 18 August 2022.
  15. "Clarets-capture-foster". Burnley. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
  16. Dindi, Sithembiso (25 January 2023). "Lyle Foster scores big move to Burnley for reported SA transfer record". Times Live. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
  17. "Burnley promoted to Premier League after Roberts sinks Middlesbrough". The Guardian. 7 April 2023. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  18. "FOSTER SIGNS NEW LONG-TERM DEAL!". Burnley FC. 26 October 2023. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  19. "Foster ruled out over mental health issue". BBC Sport. 9 November 2023. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
  20. "Burnley vs Everton Match Report". BBC Sport. 16 December 2023. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  21. "Aston Villa vs Burnley Match Report". BBC Sport. 30 December 2023. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  22. "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.
  23. Lyle Foster at Soccerway. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
  24. Lyle Foster at National-Football-Teams.com
  25. "Morocco 2–1 South Africa (9 Jun, 2022) Final Score". ESPN. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  26. "South Africa 2–2 Liberia (24 Mar, 2023) Final Score". ESPN. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  27. "South Africa 1–0 Congo DR (12 Sep, 2023) Final Score". ESPN. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
  28. "Afcon 2025: South Africa 2–1 Angola – Lyle Foster scores winner for Bafana Bafana". BBC Sport. 22 December 2025. Retrieved 22 December 2025.
  29. "Afcon 2025: Lyle Foster scores as South Africa beat Zimbabwe 3–2 to reach last 16". BBC Sport. 29 December 2025. Retrieved 29 December 2025.
  30. "Welcome back les Campinois" (in French). Belgian Pro League. 2 April 2022. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  31. "South Africa retain COSAFA Under-20 Championship title with shoot-out win". 13 December 2018. Retrieved 14 June 2024.