South Africa coach Hugo Broos welcomes CAF’s decision, what is it?

Hugo Broos, the head coach of South Africa’s national team, has welcomed the Confederation of African Football’s (CAF) decision to stage the Africa Cup of Nations every four years starting from 2028.

Broos made his comments during the pre-match press conference ahead of South Africa’s clash against Egypt in the second round of the group stage at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.

“I think it is good that the Africa Cup of Nations will be held every four years from 2028,” Broos said. “Now we have the Club World Cup in June, then the Africa Cup of Nations, and six months later the World Cup.”

He added that South Africa had to take a short break before the current tournament.
“For African teams that qualify for the World Cup, it is quite difficult. Even we had to take a short rest to refocus before the Africa Cup of Nations in December because we were busy with World Cup matters,” he explained.

Broos believes the new system will allow AFCON to regain the full importance.
“I think this is a very good decision. The Africa Cup of Nations can become the main focus,” he said. “Six months later there is the World Cup, so sometimes you start thinking too much about the World Cup and forget about AFCON. This happened to us as well.”

He concluded by stressing that the change could also help African teams appear better on the global stage.
“Maybe this will also help African countries progress more in the World Cup, because they can now focus better on it,” Broos stated.

Meanwhile, Egypt are preparing for a tough encounter against South Africa on Friday, in the second round of Group B. The Pharaohs opened their campaign with a 2-1 victory over Zimbabwe, while South Africa also started strongly with a 2-1 win over Angola, setting up a highly anticipated clash between the two sides.

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