Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos.
Image: Richard Huggard

Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos is satisfied with his team's Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) Morocco 2025 draw and believes they stand a good chance of progressing to the next round.

Bafana were drawn in group B against seven-time Afcon champions Egypt, Angola and neighbours Zimbabwe on Monday night in Rabat. After finishing third in Ivory Coast last year, South Africa will aim to improve on that by reaching the final.

Broos said it is a tough group but he is confident Bafana will advance.

“In general, I think we can be satisfied. It is not an easy group. On the other hand, I think we have a great opportunity to qualify for the next round of the Afcon,” Broos said.

“And then as you know, after the group stages of Afcon anything is possible. So, we will do everything to do better than the last Afcon.”

Broos identified Egypt as the biggest threat in group B, but stressed Angola and Zimbabwe cannot be taken lightly.

Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos shares his thoughts after the confirmation of the 2025 AFCON draw on Monday night.

Bafana Bafana have been drawn in Group B and they will face:

🇪🇬 Egypt
🇦🇴 Angola
🇿🇼 Zimbabwe #BafanaPride pic.twitter.com/yw1t8HUCek

— Bafana Bafana (@BafanaBafana) January 28, 2025

“When I look at our opponents for Afcon, I think Egypt are the favourites to win the group. They didn't do well at the last Afcon [exiting on penalties against Democratic Republic of Congo in the last 16], they didn't perform like everybody expected and they went out of the tournament early.

“But I think in the last year-and-a-half they have built a good team. They did well in the qualifiers, so they will be the team to beat for first place.

“Then we have Zimbabwe again. This is the fourth time we have played against Zimbabwe — we played against them in the qualifiers for the [2022] Fifa World Cup in Qatar and we played against them for the qualification of the last Afcon, but they were suspended, so there was no game between them and us.

“We are playing against Zimbabwe in the qualifiers for the next World Cup. We have them again now in the next Afcon. So, winning against Zimbabwe is possible in the Afcon.

“And then we have Angola. Angola is a team I don’t know well. So, it will be important to do a good analysis of our opponent Angola and to be well prepared to play that game.”

Egypt are an always formidable combination to face, but have blown hot and cold in the Afcon in the last decade-and-a-half. The Pharaohs had their strongest period winning successive titles in 2006, 2008 and 2010, but have not lifted the trophy since. After not qualifying from 2012 to 2015, they were runners-up in 2017 and 2021.

Bafana have had some strong clashes against the North African powerhouse, including famously shocking the hosts of the tournament 1-0 at a packed Cairo International Stadium in their last 16 clash in 2019 under Stuart Baxter.

Tricky Angola and Zimbabwe have never won the Nations Cup and both will present a challenge on the day. 

Broos might have to prevent overconfidence in his team after their bronze medal exploits in Ivory Coast last year, which followed two decades of mostly underachievement for Bafana.