Defiant Hugo Broos blasts Bafana critics: ‘I never listen to the trash from social media’

In Atlanta 

Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos cut a defiant figure at Atlanta Stadium on the eve of his legacy-shaping match against Czechia in the second round of Group A’s 2026 FIFA World Cup.

The temperamental Belgian will go down in history as one of the most influential coaches in Bafana’s history.

Broos, who is the team’s longest serving coach, dragged Bafana out of the depths of mediocrity and put them back at the top table of football on the continent. They reached the knockout stage of the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) at consecutive tournaments in 2023 and 2025.

The team’s surprise run in the 2023 Afcon - where they finished in third place, standing on the tournament’s podium for the first time since 2000 - rekindled South Africans’ relationship with Bafana.

The empty stadiums that characterised his earlier years, when he took over in 2021, were replaced by packed, animated crowds in various venues across Mzansi.

A throng of South Africans is even following Bafana in North America during this year’s World Cup.

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Broos’ crowning moment is leading Bafana back to the World Cup for the first time in 16 years. He became the first man since Carlos Queiroz to book Bafana’s ticket to the global showpiece through work done on the field.

The 2010 qualification was a gift - something that the 74-year-old likes to remind South Africa of - with Bafana automatically earning their place as hosts.

The transformative work that Broos has done to take Bafana to the Americas, where he got a chance to return to the mythical Azteca Stadium as a coach 40 years after he played for Belgium there in the 1986 World Cup with Belgium – has made this a