After leading Bafana Bafana to their best-ever FIFA World Cup performance, Hugo Broos has built a lasting legacy in South African football and deserves to retire on a high. Picture: ETIENNE LAURENT / AFP
Image: ETIENNE LAURENT / AFP
At Bafana Bafana’s welcome party at OR Tambo International on Thursday, Hugo Broos once again confirmed he would be considering his future with the national team.
The big goal for Broos had always been qualifying Bafana for the FIFA World Cup. He achieved that and more. Not only did Bafana qualify for the tournament for the first time since the 2002 edition, they also reached the knockout stages for the first time in their history.
The teams of 1998 and 2002 are widely regarded as the golden generation of South African football, a period that began with their Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) triumph in 1996. Yet neither side managed to make it out of the group stage at the World Cup.
Fast forward to 2026, and Bafana exceeded expectations by finishing second in their group, thanks in large part to their shock 1-0 victory over South Korea in their final pool match.
Even in the expanded 48-team format, which allowed eight of the best third-placed teams to advance, Bafana did not need that extra pathway to history. They would have qualified for the knockout stages even under the old format.
On their return, Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie praised the influence of Hugo Broos since he took over as coach in 2021. In fact, he went as far as saying Bafana had become a joke before the Belgian arrived.
The last time Bafana generated anything close to this level of excitement and euphoria was 30 years ago when they won Afcon.
I watched that triumph as a wide-eyed 10-year-old sports-loving boy. Thirty years later, the cynicism of a grumpy 40-year-old has, at least for now, been replaced by genuine optimism about South African football once again.
Most of that is thanks to the silver-haired Belgian. At 74, Broos has earned the right to walk away on his own terms, knowing he has left Bafana in a far better place than he found them.
There is an old saying in sport that the greatest coaches know when to leave. Too often, they stay one tournament too many and risk tarnishing what they have built.
Broos has nothing left to prove. He delivered World Cup qualification, guided South Africa to their best-ever finish at the tournament, restored belief among supporters and made Bafana relevant again.
If this is the end of his remarkable tenure, he should ride off into the sunset with the gratitude of a football-loving nation.
* The views expressed are not necessarily the views of IOL or Independent Media.
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