Hugo Broos ends five-year reign as South Africa coach, bows out after World Cup milestone
Has closed the door on Bafana Bafana. The 74-year-old Belgian will leave his post as South Africa coach on Friday when his contract. Hugo Broos — full details…
Hugo Broos has closed the door on Bafana Bafana. The 74-year-old Belgian will leave his post as South Africa coach on Friday when his contract expires, ending a five-year spell that revived the national team and carried it to a first World Cup knockout appearance.
The departure follows talks with South African Football Association president Danny Jordaan on Thursday. SAFA is expected to formally confirm Broos’ exit at a press conference at SAFA House on Friday afternoon, where the coach is due to say goodbye.
Family first
Broos had a chance to stay on until after the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania. He passed. The Belgian chose to return home and spend more time with his family after years away from them in South Africa.
He has spoken before about retirement after the World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada, and after Bafana’s exit from that tournament his thinking appears to have hardened. During Friday’s farewell, he is expected to make that position clearer.
His exit also follows a stormy July in which SAFA publicly denied rumours that he had been sacked and later rejected talk of a one-year extension. For now, the uncertainty is over. So is the era.
A team transformed
Broos leaves as Bafana’s longest-serving coach. He took charge in 2021 when expectations were low and the national side was still searching for identity and consistency. Four years later, the tone is very different.
Under him, South Africa qualified for back-to-back Africa Cup of Nations tournaments, won bronze at the 2024 edition in Ivory Coast and then reached the knockout stage at the 2026 Fifa World Cup for the first time in the country’s history. That run ended in the round of 32 against Canada.
It was a milestone with real weight. Historic, even.
He also leaves with Bafana in stronger standing on the global stage, having helped restore belief around a team that had struggled for years. One report on Friday placed South Africa as high as No. 54 in the FIFA rankings.
Farewell in Johannesburg
Broos was in South Africa after attending the funeral of Jayden Adams last weekend, and his goodbye comes with emotion attached. Reports from local outlets said the coach was brought to tears as he addressed South African football on Friday.
SAFA president Jordaan praised Broos for a job well done, while the federation’s social media account thanked the Belgian for his service. Fans will not have long to wait for what comes next. South Africa return to action in September in qualifying for the 2027 Afcon.
That next chapter now belongs to someone else. Broos, meanwhile, is heading home.
