Bafana’s Broos says Egypt are the team to beat in AFCON group

Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos believes a much-improved Egypt are favourites to win their group, when the two sides clash at the Africa Cup of Nations finals at the end of this year.

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Bafana will play the Pharaohs, Zimbabwe and Angola in Group C, hoping to better their AFCON achievement of last year, when they won a bronze medal in the Ivory Coast.

Egypt’s AFCON 2023 disaster

Egypt had a dismal AFCON 2023, especially with world class stars like Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush in their ranks.

They drew all three of their group matches, to scrape into the last 16 and were then beaten on penalties by DR Congo in the last 16.

Portuguese head coach Rui Vitoria was sacked after the tournament and replaced by Egyptian striking legend Hossam Hassan.

Hassan led the Pharaohs through AFCON qualifying unbeaten, winning four and drawing two of their six matches.

“I think Egypt is the favourite to win the group,” said Broos.

“They didn’t have a very good last AFCON. They didn’t perform like everyone expected and were out of the tournament very quickly.

“But over the last year and a half they have again built a very good team. They did very well in the qualifiers and will be the team to beat for first place (in Group C).

On Zimbabwe, Broos noted that the Warriors have been a regular opponent for Bafana in his time in charge.

Bafana and the Warriors faced off in qualifying for the 2022 Fifa World Cup in Qatar, and they are again opponents in qualifying for the 2026 Fifa World Cup finals.

Bafana’s Zim connection

Broos’ side beat Zimbabwe 3-1 in Bloemfontein last June, and are set to play them way from home in October.

“They are a neighbour of South Africa and it is always a difficult game for us,” said the Bafana head coach.

“On the other hand, in all the games we have played there has been one draw and we have won twice. So winning is very possible.”

Broos, meanwhile, admitted Angola were a bit of an unknown quantity to him.

‘A good analysis’

“Angola for me are a team I don’t know very well,” he said.

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“So it is important to do a good analysis … and to be well prepare to play that game. In general I think we are satisfied (with the draw). It is not very easy but … it is a great opportunity for us to qualify for the next round.

“After the group stages everything is possible, so we will do everything to do better than the last AFCON.”