Benni McCarthy says South Africa could have improved at World Cup under Pitso Mosimane

Kenya head coach Benni McCarthy believes South Africa would have performed better at the 2026 FIFA World Cup if Bafana Bafana had been managed by a South African coach such as Pitso Mosimane.

McCarthy was speaking before Kenya’s AFCON qualifier against South Africa at Orlando Amstel Arena on Friday, where he praised the greater freedom he believes has emerged within the Bafana Bafana squad under a coach who “bleeds South African”.

He stressed that his comments were not intended as criticism of Hugo Broos, his former mentor, but said a manager with a deeper understanding of the players and their culture could have made a major difference.

“Local is lekker, you know, you can see the players play with freedom. There’s a lot of excitement, there’s joy within the camp,” McCarthy said.

“And yeah, they’ve got a coach now that understands them, that understands the culture, that understands what it means to bleed South African.”

McCarthy said the contrast was particularly noticeable when comparing the team’s current performances with the way some players appeared during the World Cup.

“And it’s amazing to see, if only we had it at the World Cup, I think South Africa would have probably done a little bit better than what they did,” he added.

The former South Africa striker repeated that he was not seeking to undermine the work of the previous coach. Instead, he focused on the confidence he now sees in the national team.

“Not criticising or not saying anything bad to what the previous coach has done, but I just feel that, when you watch Bafana now, so many players that you saw, they’re tense, like they were very tense when they put on that shirt, a bit of nervousness and that, but now they play with so much freedom.”

McCarthy said the change had been encouraging for South African supporters and expressed his hope that Bafana Bafana would continue to develop under Mosimane’s leadership.

“So yeah, and it’s great as a South African to see like what your country is doing and what the players are also doing. It’s fantastic to see and I really wish, you know, that they have endless success under the leadership of coach Pitso.”