Bafana coach Hugo Broos avoids questions about his future

Is he staying or going?

The debate about the future of Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos has taken centre stage after the national team’s elimination from the 2026 Fifa World Cup by Canada in the last-32 stage on Sunday.

Broos, 74, had already announced his plans to retire from coaching at the end of the tournament, but over the past few weeks he increasingly sounded as if he might have changed his mind.

There is a short turnaround between this World Cup and the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifiers, and there are those who argue the Belgian must carry on for the sake of continuity.

The qualifiers for the next year’s Afcon in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, scheduled to take place from June 19 to July 17, start in September.

After Sunday’s last-gasp 1-0 defeat to Canada at Los Angeles Stadium via Stephen Eustaquio’s 92nd-minute goal, Broos was again asked if this was his final act for South Africa but said he can’t take a decision with emotions running high.

“It is not clever to take decisions when you are disappointed; I will not do it,” he said.

“I will see in the coming days what I am going to do in the future. It is my last Word Cup, that’s for sure, but what will happen in the next days and weeks will depend on how South Africa sees the future with me.

“For the moment, I will not answer the question.”

At some stage, Broos is going to vacate the Bafana hot seat, and he said he is going to leave his successor with a good squad to build on.

“When there is a new coach, he has to do what he has to do; he doesn’t need to listen to me. I don’t have to give him advice on what to do because he will know what to do.

“The only thing I know is that he will be inheriting a good team, and it will be up to him to work with it and try to make it better and to progress. That’s all I have to say; it’s not up to me to give advice.

“He will be the coach of Bafana, and he will be good enough to know what he has to do. I am always open if people need advice; there is no problem.”

Bafana made history at the 2026 World Cup by reaching the knockout stages for the first time. Broos said this achievement ranks up there with winning Afcon with Cameroon in 2017 for him.

“I can rate it [making it out of the World Cup group stages] with winning the Africa Cup of Nations with Cameroon. It is an unbelievable performance, what this team has done during this World Cup.

“I was a little angry when we were criticised after the game against Mexico. People thought we could come here and win against Mexico in the opening game of the World Cup.

“I know my team and the fact that we still have a lot of work to do to achieve more at this level. But what we did here during the past three to four weeks, I can rate it on the same level as winning Afcon with Cameroon.”

Broos said Bafana could not match aggressive Canada’s power and speed.

Modern football is about power and speed. When you don’t have it on your team and play against a team like Canada, who have it, then it becomes difficult. We had a difficult game, but ont the other side, we can be satisfied

—  Hugo Broos

“We have to be honest that we lost the game because there was a lack of power and speed in our team compared to our opponents. I have said it many times before, but nobody believes me: modern football is about more than technique.

“Modern football is about power and speed. When you don’t have it on your team and play against a team like Canada, who have it, then it becomes difficult. We had a difficult game, but on the other side, we can be satisfied.

“It was 24 years ago that South Africa last qualified for the World Cup, and we did it. Everyone hoped we would achieve the next round, and we did it.

“Unfortunately, we lost, and we are disappointed because we wanted to win this match and progress further.

“It was going to be a little bit of a miracle if we were in the third round, but we don’t have to be too disappointed. It was good, and I am happy and proud of what we have achieved.”