Hugo Broos ranks Bafana Bafana among elite football nations ahead of AFCON 2025

Head coach of South Africa Hugo Broos has ranked his outfit among the elite football nations ahead of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Morocco.

The 35^th edition of the continental showpiece has been scheduled to run from December 21, 2025 through to January 18, 2026, with 24 countries set to battle it out for the ultimate.

However, the Belgian tactician has made a bold statement heading into the AFCON tournament, insisting the side are no longer minnows, but rather leave for the spectacle in Morocco ‘as one of the best teams’.

“The only thing I have to tell them is to prepare them of what will come and what will come is what I told already from the beginning; the status of South Africa is different than two years ago. Two years ago, we were one of the teams. Now we are one of the best teams in AFCON,” Broos said this week.

“So, our opponents will not make the same mistake I think Morocco did in the previous one. They told South Africa, we beat them 2-1 for the qualification and here we beat them. But okay everything was decided; I think they were a little bit too relaxed against us. It will not happen again now, and we have to be aware of that.”

Bafana Bafana are paired in the same group against record AFCON holders, Egypt, Angola, and Zimbabwe at the continental showpiece.