Hugo Broos proud of South Africa despite World Cup exit

South Africa may be out of the FIFA World Cup 2026, but they are not down. Bafana Bafana's exit came in cruel circumstances as Stephen Eustaquio scored a last-gasp winner for Canada in their Round of 32 clash at Los Angeles Stadium. Nevertheless, the team leaves with heads held high after recovering from an opening defeat to Mexico to draw with Czechia and defeat Korea Republic, reaching the knockout stages for the first time in their history.

Broos reflects on the campaign

“It was a difficult game but I knew beforehand [it would be so] because I analysed the opponent. They have two important [traits] in power and speed. We hoped we had an answer for that but it was not always the fact,” South Africa coach Hugo Broos told FIFA. “You saw situations in the game that we could not follow and the duels, man against man, we lost sometimes or most of the time. We have to work on power and speed in South Africa.”

Despite the loss, Broos emphasized the positives. “I don't have complaints about the mentality but I think we can look back on this tournament with happiness because we got to the second round. I don't think anybody expected that before the tournament.”

A historic achievement

South Africa's performances at the World Cup were even more impressive given that this was their first global finals since 2010. “It is sore now because we wanted to win today. It's a disappointment, it's very quiet in the dressing room at the moment. But on the other side we have to be honest, we did very well for our first time in the World Cup after 26 years. We achieved the second round.”

At 74 years old, Broos said he will look back on the tournament with real fondness. “For me, it was a very nice thing to do as a coach again. We did it very well.”