Bafana Bafana will hope to go the distance at AFCON 2025.
Over nine months ago, Hugo Broos’ side shocked the world by beating tournament favourites and upcoming hosts Morocco in the round of 16 – they left with the bronze medal, narrowly missing out against Nigeria on penalties in the semi-final.
Although Bafana Bafana didn’t lift the trophy, it was enough to grab the world’s attention – something was, and still is, brewing in the south, an assumption further warranted by their recent top-of-the-table triumph in AFCON qualifying.
Former Mamelodi Sundowns captain Hlompho Kekana has gone as far as saying that he feels South Africa can win AFCON 2025 – a remarkable turnaround for a team that failed to qualify for the same tournament three years ago.
When and where?
Africa’s best team – according to FIFA rankings – Morocco will host AFCON 2025 from December 21 (2025) to January 18 (2026); the one-month extravaganza will be played across six cities.
AFCON 2025 teams confirmed
Morocco (hosts), Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Comoros, DR Congo, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Mali, Mozambique, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe
Words from Kekane
“Let me just congratulate Bafana Bafana for the job well done,” Kekana told iDiski Times.
“Coach Hugo Broos and his technical team, together with the backroom staff and, of course, the players, they did the job to see ourselves in the next episode, another episode of the African Cup of Nations.
“They’ve done that,” the former Bafana playmaker explained.
“You know, they deserve that. And I always say we are that country that deserves to be in these competitions. I believe that we have players, we have coaches, we have facilities, we have everything.
“We just have to always perform at that level to make sure that we put ourselves in the position of competing with the rest of the world.
“But yeah, we deserve that, and I believe that we will do more than we did in the last episode of AFCON. Yeah, we did so, so, so well, you know, bringing bronze home and this generation will, of course, do much.
“And I’m happy that they’re almost doing the best, like the 96 team, I think they’re on the right path. They just need to make sure that from the semi-finals, they reach the final next, and, of course, win it, because, I mean, they’ve got that team that they can do it.”
Do you think Bafana Bafana can win AFCON 2025?
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