Hugo Broos makes honest Bafana admission after Panama defeat

Africa 01 April 2026 at 04:27

Hlayisani Magoro

News Editor

Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos has made an honest admission about the overall quality of his squad.

South Africa succumbed to a 2-1 defeat to Panama in a 2026 FIFA World Cup warm-up match at the DHL Stadium on Tuesday night.

Notably, it was Bafana's first-ever loss on home soil since the appointment of the Belgian mentor in May 2021.

Now, with the global showpiece just under three months away, Broos admits the team still needs reinforcements, offering a glimmer of hope to the omitted players.

“We have the players who are here and who are abroad and that's it. So, I know that there are still some weaknesses in the team, we can't go with the level we have now to the World Cup, there has to be something more,” he said.

"And again we can work on that certainly, maybe there will be other players that we can see in the next months and that can make our team better and stronger.

Though Bafana failed to beat Panama in the two matches, the veteran tactician says the objective of the encounters was not to gauge his team's readiness for the World Cup.

"So, again I know that it was not the goal of this game to say after the game we are ready, there's still three months to go. But it was interesting to see what we still need and this is something we are going to work on.

Bafana have been pitted in Group A alongside co-hosts Mexico, South Korea, and Czech Republic, who beat Denmark on penalties to secure their spot on Tuesday.