Few people would have bothered to listen to Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos when he took over four years ago.

The fact that the Belgian won the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations with Cameroon mattered little at the time.

Broos also ruffled some feathers with over-the-top comments that seemed to undermine South African football. He caused a stir when he criticized the standard of the Premier Soccer League (PSL) in 2022.

“It’s time now to face the real problem. And what is the real problem of South Africa? It is that we don’t have those high-quality players, like our last three opponents, Ghana, France, and Morocco,” he said at the time.

“When you see the players of Ghana, 90% of the players are European-based. France, I don’t have to explain; all the players are playing in big European teams. But also, Morocco…”

The comments drew widespread criticism. Fast forward to 2025, and many pay attention when he talks because Bafana Bafana have improved under his reign.

When he arrived, Bafana Bafana was ranked 75th in the world, and in the latest FIFA rankings—to be published 18 September—Bafana Bafana will occupy the 55th spot, which represents a jump of 20 places since Broos was appointed Bafana Bafana coach.

In Bloemfontein, on Tuesday, after Bafana Bafana drew 1-1 with Nigeria in a FIFA World Cup qualifier, the 73-year-old heaped praise on his young guns but added that to take their game to the next level, they would have to move to Europe to compete against the best in the world.

“We have good players, really we have good players, and I hope really that what we did with the national team—hopefully we (also) would do in the future—is that those players get the (opportunity) to go to Europe,” said Broos.

“Because that should help South African football. We can be sure that if they play in competitions that are of a higher level than our PSL here in South Africa, they’ll become better when they play in those (European) competitions. So let’s hope the guys have the opportunity in the future, next season maybe, to go and play abroad… maybe the PSL teams will not be happy to hear that, but look at a guy like (Mbekezeli) Mbokazi (of Orlando Pirates); this guy has to go to Europe.

“He’s 19 years old (and) you see the way he’s playing; it’s like he already has 10 years of experience at this level.”

Few would disagree with Broos. He is guiding a fairly inexperienced squad, but a team that, if they stay together, could be African champions in future.

Against Nigeria, there were six players in Bafana Bafana’s starting XI with 10 caps or less: Zuko Mdunyelwa (5), Samukelo Kabini (2), Mbekezeli Mbokazi (3), Siyabonga Ngezana (10), Sipho Mbule (6), and Mohau Nkota (4).

Kabini (Norway), Ngezana (Romania), and Nkota (Saudi Arabia) are already based overseas.

The rest of the squad is made of mostly locally-based players, and in Broos’s view, the team would get better with more plying their trade in Europe.

Who would disagree with Broos now?