Broos Insists Bafana Are Not Going Backwards After AFCON Exit
Despite crashing out of the Africa Cup of Nations in the round of 16 and conceding more goals than in the previous tournament, Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos insists South Africa are not taking a step backwards.
At the 2023 AFCON in the Ivory Coast, Bafana Bafana finished with the bronze medal after defeating DR Congo on penalties, having earlier lost to Nigeria in the semi-finals.
During that tournament, South Africa conceded just two goals in the group stages, both coming in the opening match against Mali.
At this year’s AFCON in Morocco, however, Bafana Bafana conceded four goals in the group phase and added two more in their 2–1 defeat to Cameroon in the round of 16, which saw them exit the competition on Sunday.
When asked to assess his team’s performance, Broos was adamant that the early exit did not represent regression, insisting that luck played a role in their elimination.
“No, we are not going backwards,” said Broos.
“Certainly not. I agree that in some matches the performances were not at the level South Africa is capable of, but you cannot say that about today. Sometimes you need a bit of luck on your side.
“If I compare it to the quarter-final against Cape Verde two years ago, Ronwen Williams made a fantastic save. Without that, we could have lost that game. This time, we didn’t have the luck on our side.
“I agree that we conceded too many goals compared to the last AFCON, where we conceded two or three in the entire tournament, but we are not going backwards.”
While maintaining that exiting in the round of 16 was not a step back, Broos revealed that he and his technical team will conduct a thorough evaluation of the tournament in the coming weeks as preparations continue for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Bafana Bafana qualified for the tournament and are set to face Mexico on 11 June at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City in what will be the opening match of the global showpiece.
“But on the other hand, we have to make a good evaluation of what happened in this tournament before going to the World Cup,” Broos added.
