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Rabat – South Africa head coach Hugo Broos believes an African country can win the FIFA World Cup, arguing that teams from the continent are developing the confidence needed to compete with football’s traditional powers.
Broos made the comments ahead of South Africa’s round-of-32 match against co-hosts Canada.
Bafana Bafana reached the knockout stage for the first time in their history after finishing second in Group A.
Broos said African teams previously arrived at the World Cup without fully believing they could defeat the leading countries from Europe and South America.
“I think it is about believing in your ability,” he said.
“In the past, African teams perhaps did not believe enough when they went to the World Cup because they were facing the major European and South American countries.”
The Belgian coach believes that attitude has started to change following stronger performances by African teams in recent tournaments.
Broos said more teams from the continent now believe they can compete, produce strong results and play an important role at the World Cup.
“The confidence is growing in Africa that there are good teams and that they can have an impact at the World Cup,” he explained.
Morocco’s historic run to the semifinals at the 2022 tournament showed that an African country could compete deep into the competition.
The Atlas Lions defeated Belgium, Spain and Portugal before losing to France in the semifinals.
Broos believes winning the tournament remains a more difficult step, but he rejected the idea that it will never happen.
“It is probably too early to think that an African team will become world champion tomorrow,” he said.
“But it is possible. Some people say it will never happen, but it can happen.”
The South Africa coach said progress depends not only on technical quality but also on teams trusting their own ability when facing higher-ranked opponents.
Record african presence in knockout stage
African countries have produced a record showing at the expanded 2026 World Cup.
When Broos spoke, eight of the continent’s 10 representatives had already secured places in the round of 32. The final total later increased to nine after the group stage was completed.
Only one African representative failed to progress, marking the continent’s strongest collective World Cup performance.
“It is wonderful to see so many African teams qualify for the next round,” Broos said.
“That is a big number. Hopefully, this is only the beginning, and in future World Cups we will see even more African teams going far because they are capable of doing it.”
Broos again returned to the importance of belief.
“It is simply about believing,” he added.
South Africa now have an opportunity to continue Africa’s strong tournament when they face Canada in Los Angeles.
