Crank up Afcon performance or face early exit, Broos warns Bafana Bafana

Bafana Bafana boss Hugo Broos has fired a warning to his players to pull up their socks or face an early exit from the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon). The Belgian coach was speaking after his team edged Zimbabwe 3-2 to seal their spot in the round of 16 – with their next opponents yet to be determined.

Despite finishing second in Group B (with six points from three matches), behind group winners Egypt, the South Africans toiled in the group stage. To date, there has been little sign of the fluidity and flair that Broos has worked hard to cultivate during his four-year tenure of Bafana Bafana.

In addition to this, the South Africans have been leaky in defence. When Broos guided them to their first Afcon podium placing in more than two decades at the 2023 edition, defence was one of Bafana Bafana’s strongpoints.

At the Morocco-hosted 2025 edition – which began on 21 December and will conclude on 18 January 2026 – this backline resilience has been absent to date. In Ivory Coast two years ago, Bafana Bafana conceded just twice in the group stage. Those goals came during a 2-0 loss to Mali.

In their other two matches, they beat Namibia 4-0 and drew 0-0 with Tunisia to finish second on four points. They ended the 2025 group phase with two more points, but conceded a total of four goals in their three matches in Group B.

This has irritated Broos. As a former defender, the Belgian prides himself on building defensively sound teams.

“If we go on defending like this, we will concede goals in every game. That has to stop,” said Broos after the Zimbabwe game. “Attacking is important. But there is also defending, good defending. This has become a problem for us. In the coming days we will need to work on that. We need to put it right, so that we can keep clean sheets again.”

“That was one of our strongest points in the previous Afcon. Now it has become a weakness. So, we have to fix it. Because if we go on like this, gifting opportunities to the opponent, it will be very difficult to win against our next opponent. The passes have to be better. The focus has to be better. The concentration has to be better,” the 73-year-old said.

One of Bafana Bafana’s biggest improvements under Broos, which has seen the team qualify for successive tournaments, is an improved mentality. Prior to Broos, South Africa’s senior soccer team possessed the mental fortitude of a new-born baby. The team regularly crumbled when faced with adversity.

However, Broos and his technical team have created a team of warriors. So far in Morocco, this mental strength has been absent. Bafana Bafana’s saving grace has been that they have better overall quality than the teams they have beaten – Angola and Zimbabwe. Against stronger opponents, they will not be so fortunate.

“We start well, we score and then we fall asleep. Versus Angola it was the same story. Against a good team, you will never come back and you will lose the game,” Broos acknowledged. “I’m really not happy with the performance of some players on the pitch. Again, this is something we have to work on.

“We have to know that the progression we made in the past two or three years is not a guarantee that you will walk onto the pitch and win the game. I said before the start of this tournament that it will be tougher for us compared to the 2023 Afcon,” the Belgian explained.

“Everyone knows we are a good team now and the mindset of our opponents is completely different. So we have to adapt to that, but also ensure that we play every game at 100% of our capabilities. If we don’t do that, we will always be in trouble.

“We keep on releasing our foot off the accelerator. No. Keep going. Push harder. If we want to go far in this tournament, that is the mentality we need. If we don’t [adopt it], the tournament will be finished very quickly for us,” he said.

The South Africans are next in action on Sunday, 4 January at 9pm. Their opponents will come from Group F. That tightly contested mini-league consists of defending champions Ivory Coast, as well as Cameroon, Mozambique and Gabon. DM