Pitso Mosimane takes charge of South Africa again ahead of AFCON 2027 qualifiers
Pitso Mosimane has officially returned to the South African national football team bench, bringing to an end the months-long question over Hugo Broos's successor and opening a new chapter for Bafana Bafana ahead of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers. The South African Football Association, SAFA, presented the 62-year-old coach on 1 September at its headquarters in Nasrec, Johannesburg, after the association's executive committee had approved his return during August. The Confederation of African Football, CAF, confirmed the appointment and stated that Mosimane is taking over the team immediately before the start of the qualifying cycle. This is his second permanent spell in charge of the national team, or his third period if the seven matches in which he led the team as interim coach in 2007 before the arrival of Carlos Alberto Parreira are also counted. The return of one of Africa's most decorated coaches comes at a time when South Africa is entering a new cycle with higher expectations than it had a few years ago.
At his presentation, Mosimane said that he sees his return to the national team as a major responsibility and that he wants to put the experience he has gained over the past fourteen years back at the service of the national team. According to CAF's report, he emphasized that the job of national team coach goes beyond the usual club role for him because it carries responsibility toward the entire country and the expectations of the public. At the same time, he paid tribute to his predecessor Hugo Broos and his coaching staff, pointing out that he is taking over a team that has rebuilt its credibility on the African and world stage. Daily Maverick reported that Mosimane said he wants to build on the existing foundations while also raising the standard of play to a higher level. In doing so, he immediately set the framework for his new spell: continuity of results without abandoning his own coaching identity.
Return after fourteen years and a completely different coaching profile
Mosimane began his first permanent spell on the Bafana Bafana bench after the 2010 World Cup, when he succeeded Parreira, under whom he had previously worked as an assistant. That period remained marked by failure in qualification for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, when South Africa drew 0:0 against Sierra Leone in the final round, mistakenly calculating that a draw was enough to advance. According to reports from the time and later retrospectives, the rules gave priority to head-to-head results in the event of a tie on points, which meant Niger finished ahead of South Africa. Mosimane remained in the position for several more months, but left the bench in June 2012 after a 1:1 home draw against Ethiopia at the start of qualification for the 2014 World Cup. CAF now states that across his previous two periods in charge of the national team he led a total of 23 matches, recording nine wins, ten draws and four defeats, with 17 goals scored and eight conceded.
The coach who is now returning to Johannesburg, however, has a significantly different status from the one he had in 2012. After leaving the national team, he built one of the most successful club careers among African coaches. With Mamelodi Sundowns, he won the CAF Champions League in 2016, and then with Egypt's Al Ahly he won the same trophy twice more, in 2020 and 2021. CAF states that his three African championship titles place him immediately behind Manuel José, who won four as a coach. Mosimane also won the CAF Super Cup with Sundowns, while with Al Ahly he twice claimed bronze at the FIFA Club World Cup, further strengthening his reputation as a coach who performs well in knockout competitions and under intense pressure.
Following his African successes, he also worked in the Middle East, including spells in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, while the BBC stated in its report on his return that his final coaching job before Bafana Bafana was with Iran's Esteghlal. Such a path means that he returns to the national team with experience of different football cultures, major dressing rooms and clubs where results were an immediate imperative. This is precisely one of the main differences compared with his first spell, when he had not yet won the trophies that would later make him one of the most recognizable African coaches. For SAFA, the appointment therefore also represents an attempt to maintain the momentum of results created under Broos, but with a coach who knows the domestic league and the specific characteristics of South African football extremely well.
Broos left the national team after a historic World Cup
Mosimane inherits a team in a significantly better position than fourteen years ago. Hugo Broos, who managed South Africa for five years, ended his spell after the 2026 World Cup and the expiry of his contract at the end of July. According to South Africa's EWN and SABC, the 74-year-old Belgian decided not to extend his contract primarily because he wanted to spend more time with his family after a long period spent away from home. His spell brought Bafana Bafana back among the continent's relevant national teams: South Africa finished third at the Côte d’Ivoire 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, played at the beginning of 2024, and subsequently qualified for the 2026 World Cup. For the first time since hosting the tournament in 2010, the national team thus returned to the world's biggest stage.
At the World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the United States of America, South Africa went a step further. FIFA states that after a 0:2 defeat against Mexico and a 1:1 draw with Czechia, it defeated South Korea 1:0 in the final group match thanks to a goal from Thapelo Maseko and reached the knockout stage of a World Cup for the first time in history. In the round of 32, Bafana Bafana held host nation Canada to 0:0 until almost the end, but was eliminated after a Stephen Eustáquio goal in stoppage time. After that match, Broos told FIFA that despite the disappointment, the team could be satisfied with what it had achieved because it had gone further than expected before the tournament. Mosimane is therefore not taking over a project that needs to be completely rebuilt, but a group of players who have gained experience of major continental and global matches over the past two years.
It is precisely this context that raises the bar for the new national team coach. SAFA is no longer looking merely to stabilize the national team, but to ensure continuity of appearances at major competitions and further develop a team that now has a clear core. Captain and goalkeeper Ronwen Williams, midfielder Teboho Mokoena and a number of players from Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates were among the key figures in Broos's team at the World Cup. Mosimane knows some of those players extremely well from South African club football, while he has also worked with some of them earlier in his career. His first task will therefore not only be to select the best individuals, but also to assess how much of the structure of the previous system should be retained and how quickly he should introduce his own tactical demands.
The qualifying group leaves very little room for error
The biggest immediate challenge will be qualification for AFCON 2027, which will be jointly hosted by Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda from 19 June to 17 July 2027. The CAF draw placed South Africa in Group D with Kenya, Guinea and Eritrea. Since Kenya is one of the hosts and already has a guaranteed place at the final tournament, CAF determined that alongside the host only the best-placed national team among the remaining three will advance from that group. This means that South Africa, Guinea and Eritrea are effectively competing for only one available place, so the value of every point increases from the very first round. In groups without a host, unlike this model, the top two national teams qualify as standard.
CAF confirmed that South Africa will open qualification with a home match against Guinea, followed by an away fixture against Eritrea that will be played at a neutral venue in Egypt. South African media outlets SABC and Daily Maverick stated that 23 and 27 September are planned for those matches, although CAF, in its official announcement of Mosimane's appointment, confirmed the order and location of the second match without giving the exact dates. The qualifying windows previously announced by CAF schedule the first two rounds between 21 September and 6 October, the third and fourth rounds from 9 to 17 November, and the final two rounds between 22 and 30 March 2027. This leaves the new national team coach very little time to prepare before matches that could already strongly determine the direction of the entire campaign in September.
Guinea is traditionally a difficult national team with a large number of players from European leagues, while Eritrea enters the group after progressing through the preliminary round against Eswatini. CAF reported that Eritrea won 4:1 on aggregate in March and thereby secured a place in the main stage of qualification. Particularly important for South Africa will be the fact that the away match against Eritrea will not be played in Asmara but at a neutral venue in Egypt, because the stadium there currently does not meet all the requirements for hosting matches at this level. Although a neutral venue reduces the traditional home advantage, travel, the short interval between matches and the need for rapid adaptation will remain important logistical and sporting factors.
Benni McCarthy also in the same group
Additional attention is drawn to Group D by the fact that Kenya is coached by Benni McCarthy, another major name in South African football. When announcing the draw, CAF recalled that McCarthy is South Africa's all-time leading scorer with 31 goals. Since Kenya is a host and automatically qualified, its results will nevertheless have a major influence on the standings and points totals of the other national teams in the group. Matches between Mosimane's South Africa and McCarthy's Kenya will therefore carry additional symbolism, but for Bafana Bafana the sporting priority will remain finishing first among the teams that are not hosts. In such a format, even one poor result against a direct rival can become decisive.
Mosimane will also have to quickly complete the structure of his coaching staff. TimesLIVE reported after his presentation that long-time associates Musi Matlaba as analyst and Kabelo Rangoaga, responsible for fitness preparation, are joining the team, while the assistant coach position had not yet been filled. The new national team coach explained that he wants associates who know his working methods and can immediately function in an environment with very little training time between international matches. This is particularly important in qualifiers in which two matches are often played only a few days apart, meaning detailed opponent analysis, recovery and set-piece preparation can carry as much weight as conventional tactical training.
From club winner to a new national-team test
Mosimane's return is also logical because of his experience in African competitions, but international football poses different demands from club football. At clubs, he had the opportunity to work with players every day and gradually develop automated patterns, while with Bafana Bafana he will have to implement most of his ideas during short FIFA windows. In addition, after Broos the national team has a recognizable identity, strong defensive discipline and experience of playing without much possession against stronger opponents. Mosimane will have to decide whether to retain that model as a starting point or try to impose greater possession, more aggressive pressing and more complex positional patterns of the kind he used during his most successful club spells.
His result in his first spell is a reminder that reputation and knowledge of domestic football do not in themselves guarantee success, but the circumstances are now significantly different. Mosimane returns with three CAF Champions League titles, experience of working in several countries and a team that has just achieved South Africa's best-ever World Cup result in terms of reaching the knockout stage. At the same time, the qualifying format for AFCON 2027 leaves very little room for a transition period because only one national team alongside host Kenya can reach the final tournament from Group D. Therefore, the opening matches against Guinea and Eritrea will be much more than a symbolic beginning to a new spell.
For SAFA, Mosimane's appointment is an attempt to connect two eras: the stability and progress in results under Broos and the ambition of a coach who achieved his greatest successes in continental club football. For Mosimane himself, it is an opportunity to change the perception of his first national-team spell and prove that the experience gained at Sundowns, Al Ahly and clubs outside South Africa can be transferred to the national level. The real answer will not come from the presentation ceremony in Johannesburg, but from the qualifying matches that begin in a few weeks. Bafana Bafana enters that cycle with a greater reputation, but also with greater expectations, and Mosimane will very quickly have to show whether he can turn them into results.
Sources:
- Confédération Africaine de Football – confirmation of Mosimane's appointment, his previous national-team record, Group D and the qualification context (link)
- Confédération Africaine de Football – AFCON 2027 qualifying draw, group composition, qualifying model and dates of international windows (link)
- FIFA – report on South Africa's historic qualification for the knockout stage of the 2026 World Cup and elimination against Canada (link)
- EWN – confirmation of the end of Hugo Broos's spell and the circumstances of his departure from the national team (link)
- Daily Maverick – report from Mosimane's presentation, his comments about continuing Broos's work and the expected dates of the first qualifying matches (link)
- TimesLIVE – composition of the initial part of Mosimane's coaching staff and status of the assistant coach position (link)
- BBC Sport – overview of Mosimane's return, his previous spell and his most recent club appointments (link)
- SABC Sport – report on the planned dates of South Africa's first qualifying matches against Guinea and Eritrea (link)
- SABC Sport – information on Eritrea's home match against South Africa being played at a neutral venue in Egypt (link)
- CAF – overview of Mosimane's results with Al Ahly, including two consecutive third-place finishes at the FIFA Club World Cup (link)
- CAF – information on Eritrea's progression through the preliminary qualifying round against Eswatini (link)