Pitso Mosimane Returns as Bafana Bafana Head Coach

JOHANNESBURG – Pitso Mosimane is heading back to the Bafana Bafana hot seat, this time as the man officially trusted to lead South Africa into a new era after their historic World Cup run.

The South African Football Association has approved Mosimane’s appointment as the new national team coach following the departure of Hugo Broos, closing a swift but significant chapter of succession at the top of the national game.

The decision was ratified at a Safa National Executive Committee meeting, where members backed Mosimane to take charge of the side that lit up the 2026 FIFA World Cup by reaching the knockout rounds for the first time in the country’s history. That campaign, anchored by a gritty, statement victory over South Korea, has reset expectations around what this team should be.

Now comes the hard part: sustaining it.

SAFA has confirmed that a few administrative details still need to be tied up before the deal is completely done, but there is no sense of hesitation. An official announcement is expected next week, with the association already aligning itself behind Mosimane’s return.

For the 60-year-old coach, this is familiar territory with far higher stakes. Mosimane previously led Bafana in a caretaker role in 2007 and then as permanent coach from 2010 to 2012, a spell that gave him his first taste of the unforgiving glare that comes with the national job.

This time, he walks back into the dugout with a World Cup knockout team at his disposal and a fan base that has finally seen proof that South Africa can stand toe-to-toe with the game’s established nations. The question now is simple and unforgiving: can Mosimane turn a breakthrough into a standard?