Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos has candidly explained his decision to exclude Kaizer Chiefs players from his latest squad, stating that their recent season’s performance, aside from a solitary trophy win, was simply “not good enough.”

On Thursday, Broos announced a youthful Bafana Bafana squad that will face Tanzania on 6 June at Peter Mokaba Stadium and Mozambique four days later at Loftus Stadium, both friendly matches to be held in South Africa.

The squad is notably dominated by players from Orlando Pirates, with four new faces among the nine Buccaneers called up by Broos. Despite the absence of Mamelodi Sundowns players, who have been excused due to their upcoming participation in the FIFA Club World Cup in the United States, Kaizer Chiefs players were still overlooked.

This situation might have seemed to open a window for Chiefs players to be included, but Broos unequivocally stated that there was nothing compelling enough to warrant their selection.

He highlighted their poor league season, emphasizing that the Nedbank Cup victory was their only highlight, and that alone is insufficient for national team contention.

Even though Chiefs ended a 10-year trophy drought with their Nedbank Cup triumph, they finished ninth in the league, outside the top eight for the second consecutive season. This league performance, according to Broos, sufficiently vindicates his decision to leave them out.

“I know, and for me, for the moment, I think I can’t select players of Kaizer Chiefs, and I hope that they have a better season next year,” Broos remarked.

“Okay, they won the cup. But I think that was the only highlight in the season of Chiefs. All the rest was not so good.”

He further added, “The supporters are very happy because they won the cup. We have to be honest, and we have nothing against Chiefs, but I have to be honest in my choices. Most of the time, it was not good with Chiefs. It is up to them next season to perform well, and if they play like I expect from a top team like Chiefs, they will have players in the team, and you don’t have to be afraid.”

Following these friendly matches, Bafana Bafana will return to competitive action in September for the resumption of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.