World Cup Qualifier: South Africa set to lose coach Hugo Broos ahead of Nigeria clash

South Africa coach Hugo Broos has decided to throw in the towel ahead of the all-important 2026 World Cup qualifier against Nigeria.

Broos was appointed as Bafana Bafana’s head coach in May 2021 and was given the mandate to help South Africa qualify for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) and the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Despite finishing third in Ivory Coast after beating DR Congo in the third-place playoffs and on the path to qualifying for the World Cup, the Belgian was not keen on staying as the head coach.

Broos is set to leave and seek a greener pasture elsewhere with Belgian Jupiler League giant Club Brugge on his radar.

The 71-year-old was in the stand for the club’s last league match against Anderlecht over the weekend and he is set to take charge as technical director.

This would be part of a proposed new structure at the club under CEO Bob Madou which is set to help current head coach Ronny Deila.

He won the 2017 African Cup of Nations with the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon but now seems done with African football.

“I had a conversation with the [Safa] president [Danny Jordaan]… and said ‘Look, I would like to stop’,” the former Cameroon coach told Frank & Franky Podcast.

“I think he was lucky that he was sitting down, otherwise he would have fallen over.”

Broos then explained one of the reasons that made him want to quit, “I said, ‘I don’t want to experience the criticism I received here over the last two years again’.

“Now, everything is good, but in March we have a group of friendlies and if we disappoint, it starts all over again.

“In May, we started to prepare, we still had some friendly matches and two qualifying matches for the [2026 Fifa] World Cup and then the preparations for Afcon.

“The league was scheduled until 31 December. So I decided to write a letter to the league’s CEO to ask to stop after Christmas and there was no reply. When the fixtures came out, the first thing I looked at was when they break and they only stopped on 31 December.

“I wrote another letter to explain that [Mamelodi] Sundowns players feature in so many competitions, they need a break before Afcon,” Broos continued.

“14 days later we received a response, it started with ‘We support Bafana Bafana and the coach, but we could not change it due to the sponsors’.

“They also said they discussed it with everyone, which is absolutely not true. No [I am not quitting now] I will continue for the time being, but there are a few conditions that need to be met.”

If he accepts the Club Bruge offer, that would mean abandoning his South Africa project where qualifying for the 2026 Fifa World Cup is top priority.

It is not yet clear if he will be back to terminate his Bafana contract or start preparing for the March international friendly matches against Andorra and Algeria.