Khumalo suggests what were Bafana ‘strengths’ under Broos
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Khumalo suggests what were Bafana ‘strengths’ under Broos
Aug 15, 2026 – 10:56 am
By Thato Bosoga
Bafana Bafana legend Doctor Khumalo has suggested what Hugo Broos’ successor should prioritise for the national team to continue to grow.
Bafana are in the process of appointing a new head coach, after Broos decided not to continue after his five-year reign culminated in qualifying South Africa to the FIFA World Cup for the first time since 2002 and leading the team to get out of the group stages for the first time in their history, in the 2026 edition.
The much anticipated Broos successor will have to hit the ground running, as SA will be involved in the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, which will begin next month, with back-to-back qualifying matches crammed within a six months period.
There will be pressure on the in-coming head coach to take the standard of the national team higher, after the Belgian coach also led Bafana to a bronze medal finish in the 2024 AFCON for the first time in 24 years.
Khumalo has suggested three factors that Bafana have to keep to remain competitive and have a South African identity going forward.
“We have a team, he (Broos) has raised the bar. Remember it took us 16 years to be where we are (to reach the World Cup stage). It was the mental strength, if those boys could pull it off after a disappointing loss against Mexico, for them to come, it requires a strong mental factor,” Khumalo said on Changing The Game With Pitso Mosimane podcast.
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“Our strength was them switching on and saying, ‘Let’s do it our way’. Our way, we have a combination phase going forward but they had more back passes. But when we introduce that number ten, we can’t play without that player. A ‘Mshishi’ (Themba Zwane), a Rele Mofokeng. When they introduced Rele it changed,
“We also had that point of reference, which was (Evidence) Makgopa, not taking anything away from other strikers. When you look at how we used to play, Mark Williams, Phil Masinga, Shaun Bartlett, we’ve always had a strong spine (up top),” Khumalo added.