Hugo Broos reveals unexpected plan for South Africa before AFCON 2025

South Africa head coach Hugo Broos has confirmed that his team will not play any further friendly matches ahead of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, which will take place in Morocco from December 21 to January 18.

Bafana Bafana have been drawn in Group B alongside Egypt, Angola, and Zimbabwe. The team recently defeated Zambia 3–1 in a friendly played last Saturday — a match Broos revealed would be their final warm-up before the tournament, which he believes does not require additional preparation games.

Speaking to South African outlet SABC Sport, the Belgian coach explained his stance:
“I don’t like playing two or three matches before we go to the tournament. We have played enough against African teams.”

He added: “Over the last four years, we have faced almost exclusively African opponents. So we don’t need any more games before going to AFCON. There is no necessity for that.”

Broos clarified that the approach will change when preparing for the FIFA World Cup:
“Next year will be different when we start preparing for the World Cup — that’s another matter entirely, and the preparations will be different.”

The coach emphasized that the focus now is on entering AFCON with full readiness:
“We just want to prepare well and make sure the team is fully ready when the tournament starts. We don’t want to begin the way we started the last AFCON — with a defeat.”

He concluded:
“I want to win the first match because it gives you a huge advantage in the tournament, especially in the group stage. Winning your opening game changes everything.”

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