‘This is the right moment’ – Broos tells SAFA what he wants to do after 2026 World Cup

Bafana Bafana boss Hugo Broos has laid out his plans beyond the 2026 World Cup after achieving nearly all the objectives set out for him when he was hired.

Broos returned South Africa to ‘paradise’ when he led them to World Cup qualification for the first time since 2002 having finished top of a challenging Group F ahead of a star-studded Nigerian team.

That was the main objective set out for Broos when he was hired in May 2021 although it looked like something that would be impossible to achieve at the time.

South Africa had been perennial underachievers by then, struggling to qualify for Africa Cup of Nations while a World Cup was a distant memory.

Broos has achieved what seemed impossible

However, the veteran Belgian coach has now taken them to back-to-back AFCONs, finishing third in 2023, while looking forward to impressing in Morocco this year, before putting the icing on the cake with World Cup qualification.

The 73-year-old says he has now reached the peak of his coaching mountain and will retire after guiding Bafana Bafana to the World Cup, handing his employers SAFA an early notice.

“This is really a fantastic evening for everyone. I hoped, maybe even more than every player, that we would go to America,” Broos told the media.

What is next for Bafana coach after World Cup?

“For me, it’s sentimental. I was already at a World Cup as a player at the end of my career, and now I do it again as a coach,” added Broos, who was part of Belgium’s squad at the 1986 World Cup.

“I think this is the right moment, after the World Cup next year, to stop my career, go to my family, and enjoy the next 20 years with my grandchildren and my children,” said the 2017 AFCON winner with Cameroon, who will be 74 by the time he calls time on his career.

“But first of all, there is still some work to do, and we will try to do it well. Thank you.”