BAFANA Bafana 2010 World Cup legend Kagisho Dikgacoi credits coach Hugo Broos and the technical team for keeping this team this long.
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Former Bafana Bafana midfielder Kagiso Dikgacoi has credited the national team’s stability and continuity under Hugo Broos as the foundation behind their remarkable rise ahead of the Fifa World Cup in North America.
South Africa head into the tournament carrying the hopes of a nation after securing qualification for their first World Cup since 2010.
While much attention has focused on the players, Dikgacoi believes the coaching staff deserve significant recognition for building a group that understands one another and has grown together over a number of years.
The former Fulham and Crystal Palace midfielder says the consistency shown by Broos and his technical team has helped create one of the strongest dressing-room cultures Bafana have enjoyed in recent years.
“Credit must go to the coach and the technical team for keeping this team this long so there’s an understanding of each other and that makes them as important as they are today,” he said.
Since taking charge in 2021, Broos has resisted the temptation to constantly overhaul his squad, instead placing faith in a core group of players who have developed together through World Cup qualifiers, Afcon campaigns and international friendlies.
That approach paid dividends at 2024 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon), where Bafana exceeded expectations by securing a third-place finish.
Many of the players who featured during that campaign remain central figures in the current squad preparing for Mexico, the Czech Republic and South Korea.
For Dikgacoi, that continuity has created a bond that could prove invaluable on football’s biggest stage.
“We saw what happened at that other Afcon where they finished third and they haven’t made many changes since and that bond that was created by the national team has made them more special.”
The former midfielder believes the players have already received all the guidance they need heading into the tournament and that the focus should now be on execution rather than outside advice.
Bafana will open their World Cup campaign against co-hosts Mexico, before taking on the Czech Republic and South Korea in what many observers believe is a competitive and evenly balanced group.
Dikgacoi views the opening fixture as potentially decisive to South Africa’s hopes of reaching the knockout stages.
“I don’t think anyone could advise them now at this stage but I think if they can win or draw against Mexico, who I think are the toughest team in their group, we stand a good chance of progressing to the next round.”
His comments echo a growing belief that South Africa’s strength lies not necessarily in individual star power, but in the collective understanding that has been developed over several years under Broos.
With the World Cup now just days away, Bafana Bafana will travel to the tournament knowing that continuity, chemistry and belief have already carried them further than many expected.
According to Dikgacoi, those same qualities could yet help them take another significant step forward on the global stage.