Lyle Foster

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

Lyle Foster

Personal information
Full name	Lyle Brent Foster[1]
Date of birth	(2000-09-03) 3 September 2000 (age 24)
Place of birth	Carletonville, South Africa
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[2]
Position(s)	Forward
Team information
Current team	Burnley
Number	9
Youth career
0000–2017	Orlando Pirates
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2017–2019	Orlando Pirates	11	(1)
2019–2020	AS Monaco	3	(6)
2019	→ Monaco II	8	(3)
2019–2020	→ AS Monaco (loan)	35	(17)
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	63	(8)
International career‡
2016	South Africa U17	4	(1)
2017–2019	South Africa U20	7	(5)
2018	South Africa U23	2	(0)
2018–	South Africa	20	(7)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 17:02, 3 May 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 19:00, 25 March 2025 (UTC)

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.^[6][7]

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.^[10][11]

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.^[16][17]

On 26 October 2023, 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 Everton^[20] and went on to score in their final fixture of the year against Aston Villa.^[21]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 3 May 2025

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup[a]		League cup[b]		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Orlando Pirates	2017–18[22]	South African Premier Division	9	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	11	1
Monaco II	2018–19[22]	Championnat National 2	8	3	—		—		—		8	3
Monaco	2018–19[22]	Ligue 1	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	2019–20[22]	Ligue 1	2	0	0	0	0	0	—		2	0
	Total		2	0	0	0	0	0	—		2	0
Cercle Brugge (loan)	2019–20[22]	Belgian Pro League	18	1	1	0	—		—		19	1
Vitória de Guimarães B	2020–21[22]	Campeonato de Portugal	4	0	—		—		—		4	0
Vitória de Guimarães	2020–21[22]	Primeira Liga	5	0	1	0	1	0	—		7	0
Westerlo (loan)	2021–22[22]	Belgian First Division B	23	4	3	1	—		—		26	5
Westerlo	2022–23[22]	Belgian Pro League	21	8	0	0	—		—		21	8
Burnley	2022–23[22]	Championship	11	1	4	0	—		—		15	1
	2023–24[22]	Premier League	24	5	1	0	1	0	—		26	5
	2024–25[22]	Championship	28	2	2	1	1	0	—		31	3
	Total		63	8	7	1	2	0	—		72	9
Career total			153	25	14	2	3	0	0	0	170	27

1. Includes Nedbank Cup, Belgian Cup, Taça de Portugal, FA Cup
2. Includes Taça da Liga, EFL Cup

International

As of match played 25 March 2025^[23]

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	2	1
Total	20	7

As of match played 25 March 2025

South Africa score listed first, score column indicates score after each Foster goal^[23]

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	[24]
2	24 March 2023	Orlando Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa	10	Liberia	1–0	2–2	2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualification	[25]
3					2–0
4	12 September 2023	Orlando Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa	12	DR Congo	1–0	1–0	Friendly	[26]
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

Honours

Westerlo

• Belgian First Division B: 2021–22^[27]

Burnley

• EFL Championship: 2022–23

South Africa U20

• COSAFA U-20 Cup:2017^[28]