‘We are not going backwards’ – Broos defends Bafana despite AFCON flop

Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos has rejected the assertion that his team has gone backwards following their elimination from the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.

South Africa were knocked out at the Round of 16 following a 2-1 defeat to Cameroon in Rabat on Sunday, ending their tournament early, having come in with hopes of winning it or at least the semi-finals.

There have been claims that Broos’ team has regressed compared to two years ago when they finished third despite the tactician having 16 debutants in his AFCON 2025 squad.

However, the veteran Belgian tactician thinks otherwise and is only ruing bad luck as he believes his team would have progressed to the quarter-final had they taken their early chances.

What has Broos said?

“In some games, the performances were not at the level of the South Africa everybody knows, but you can’t say that for today. Sometimes, you need a little bit of luck,” Broos said as per SABC.

“Today, luck was not on our side, but we are not going backwards, although we must make an evaluation of this tournament as we prepare for the World Cup.”

Broos made four changes to his squad, bringing in Samukelo Kabini, Bathusi Aubaas, Nkosinathi Sibisi and Relebohile Mofokeng as he went with a three-man defence and after it did not yield the desired results, he has promised to evaluate everything before embarking on his World Cup preparations.

“I will not answer that question, because we need to make evaluations on that before our friendlies in March,” added Broos when asked about the challenges he encountered in Morocco.