Arthur Zwane backs South Africa to reach AFCON final

Former South African international Arthur Zwane believes Hugo Broos’ side can go all the way to reach the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) final in Morocco.

Having watched the 1996 AFCON champions launch their campaign with a battling 2-1 victory over Angola on Monday, the current AmaZulu FC mentor said he was convinced beyond reasonable doubt that the national team can scale even greater heights.

🎥 HIGHLIGHTS: 🇿🇦 2-1 🇦🇴

South Africa kick off their #TotalEnergiesAFCON2025 campaign with a hard-fought win over Angola. ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/HrZoCW6Qke

— TotalEnergies AFCON 2025 (@CAF_Online) December 22, 2025

Zwane particularly took pride at the sight of AmaZulu academy product Tshepang Moremi coming off the bench to provide an assist for Lyle Foster’s 79th minute ultimate winner at the Marrakech Stadium.

The man, who earned nine caps with South Africa, backed Broos’ side to build on their bronze medal finish of the the 2023 AFCON in Ivory Coast and go a step further to the winner’s podium.

The AmaZulu mentor said winning the continental title would serve as a perfect dress rehearsal for the team’s participation at the 2026 FIFA World Cup finals in USA, Mexico and Canada.

“I’m sure everyone is proud firstly that the national team has qualified for the World Cup and also qualified for AFCON. We deserve it, when you look at how we carried ourselves,” Zwane told AmaZulu FC website.

“I’ve always said give credit where it’s due, I think coach Broos and his assistant Helman [Mkhalele], any other [technical team] member that is part of the national team – I think they’ve done exceptionally well.

“We wish them well and I fancy our chances, looking at how we qualified. We outplayed some of the top countries in the continent. I don’t see any reason why we don’t go all the way to the final of AFCON this time around, in preparation for the World Cup.”

Happy birthday to Coach Mangethe! 🥳🎈#Umqhele #HebeUsuthu #UsuthuTogether pic.twitter.com/b5i8MBQoIx

— AmaZulu FC (@AmaZuluFootball) September 20, 2025

Why South Africa’s AFCON squad composition impresses Zwane

Zwane further shared his insights on South Africa’s squad composition, saying he was encouraged by the fusion of youngsters with the experienced ones.

“When you look at the future that is in that squad as well, there’s lot of players that are going to play the World Cup probably three times if we do qualify in the next coming years, and AFCON they want to play,” he added.

“So, you need that experience and that will also help a lot of players. We can easily now export players to overseas like we used to do as a nation. So, we are so proud and we wish them all the best of luck. We just hope that things can go well in terms of going all the way to the final of AFCON.”

South Africa return to the battlefront for Group B against the record champions Egypt at the Adrar Stadium on Friday. The record champions started the pool with a come-from-behind 2-1 victory over Zimbabwe.

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