Khumalo: There are similarities with current Bafana & 1996 crop
Rugby
Podcasts & Videos
The Club House
Win
–>
Photo by Daniel Hlongwane/Gallo Images
Home
Psl
SA National Teams
Khumalo: There are similarities with current Bafana & 1996 crop
Aug 10, 2026 – 12:59 pm
By Kickoff Reporter
Bafana Bafana legend Doctor Khumalo has suggested the two factors that the national team got right under former head coach Hugo Broos.
Broos left the Bafana post officially last week after becoming the first South Africa coach to lead the national team past the group stages of a FIFA World Cup in the 2026 edition.
The Belgian coach’s five-year tenure has been seen as hugely successful, even though he did not deliver a trophy, after reducing the average age in the squad and built a competitive team using largely locally-based players.
The 74-year-old also evidently changed the mentality of the players towards the national team, as the prestige and pride of playing for the country was revived under his tutelage.
Khumalo, who was part of the 1996 Bafana squad that won the Africa Cup of Nations, commended Broos for getting two things right.
“We need to give credit to SAFA, that tells you when you lose and dismiss a coach, there won’t be continuity. In the (2022 World Cup) qualifiers Hugo lost to Ghana with the youngsters but he was given support and these are the results,” Khumalo said on Changing The Game With Pitso Mosimane podcast.
“Looking at the current crop, I’ve always said that you know these boys are emulating the group of between 1992 and 1996. Because one, the group in ’92 until ’96 we didn’t care that Nigeria has got 20 players from Europe, that’s the first obstacle they got right.
Read: ‘Mofokeng and co will carry Bafana into a bright future’
“And the last thing, collectively, the current crop, you can see there’s unity and that’s exactly what we had. We’re seeing that a lot in this current crop, hence they are giving us these results,” Khumalo added.
Broos’ other achievements include leading Bafana to a third-place finish at the 2024 AFCON for the first time in 24 years.