Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos will leave the dugout in about a year, if all goes according to plan.

Bafana, in Group C, are edging closer to qualifying for the FIFA 2026 World Cup, which will be played in North America from June 11 to July 19, 2026.

Broos’s men top the group with 13 points with four matches remaining, but Bafana could be docked three points for allegedly fielding an ineligible player, Teboho Mokoena during the qualifiers. This matter is still pending with FIFA.

If Bafana Bafana qualify, as expected, Broos will guide them at the tournament, which would be his last in the dugout.

“The decision is made and after the World Cup, I will stop. My contract will be finished, but I will stop as a coach,” Broos told the media this week in Polokwane, where Bafana Bafana will play two friendlies against Tanzania [6 June] and Mozambique [10 June].

“I’ve been coaching for nearly 40 years, and I’m 73. There has to be one moment where you have to stop. I will not die on the bench.

“So next year, after the World Cup, it’s finished. I have been in football since I was 19, first as a professional player and then as a coach. I think when I stop next year, I can be at home with my wife and drink coffee.”

Broos is Bafana’s longest-serving coach since he’s been in charge for over four years. He took over on 5 May 2021.

The late Clive Barker comes second as he was in charge for exactly four years in the 90s.