Bafana Bafana mentor Hugo Broos has reiterated his views on how Bafana Bafana could be in a position to compete against the best teams in Africa, let alone the world.

The Belgian has maintained his stance that Bafana Bafana can benefit from the country exporting players, especially to top European leagues, such as the English Premier League, Spanish La Liga, Germany’s Bundesliga, Italian Serie A, and France’s Ligue 1.

This follows Bafana Bafana’s exit from the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in the round of 16.

“When you mention those (top teams) in Africa, those are teams with players in Europe. We don’t have them, and that is the disadvantage for South Africa,” said Broos, who’s been at the helm for over four years.

“There’s a (Cameroonian striker) Christian Kofane; he’s playing at Bayer Leverkusen (in Germany). He’s 19 years old, so this is the opportunity that our players need to have, because they have to be challenged more. And I said from the beginning that the level of the PSL compared with what we faced now in the last weeks (in the AFCON) is very big.

“You can only make that gap smaller when you have players that are playing in very difficult competitions (in Europe).”

Bafana Bafana’s only player in Europe’s top leagues is Lyle Foster, who plays for Premier League club Burnley.

Fans on social media have expressed a different view, pointing to Bafana Bafana finishing third in the 2023 AFCON, with mostly local players.

Meanwhile, Mbekezeli Mbokazi and Puso Dithejane have both moved to the USA’s Major Soccer League (MLS) to play for Chicago Fire.