Hugo Broos’s troops want to beat Zimbabwe in their final Group B game on Monday, to qualify for the round of 16 on a winning note. In tournament soccer, there is little time to mope around in the aftermath of a disappointing result. It’s important to keep moving.
Someone as experienced as Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos knows this well. He will impart this wisdom to his players ahead of their crucial final group-stage game against Zimbabwe at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon), taking place in Morocco. South Africa went down 1-0 to seven-time African champions Egypton Friday, 26 December.
Broos and his men felt aggrieved by some of the key refereeing decisions taken on the day. They are particularly disappointed at the decision that saw Egypt earn a penalty in the dying stages of the first half, which Mohamed Salah dispatched. Bafana Bafana are also aggrieved at the decision to deny them a penalty towards the end of the game, with the team’s shout for a handball inside the Egyptian box dismissed by referee Pacifique Ndabihawenimana.
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Nevertheless, what’s done is done and all the team can do now is face forward. “The first thing we have to do is forget about the Egypt game. It’s finished, and we can’t change anything.
Even we are angry and frustrated about what happened,” Broos said. Up next for Bafana Bafana, the 1996 African champions, is a tough customer in the form of Zimbabwe. The two teams tussle on Monday, 29 December, at 6pm.
On paper, the South Africans are stronger than their neighbours. However, clashes against the Warriors are always challenging. As recently as October 2025 – in a Fifa World Cup qualifier – Zimbabwe put up a brave fight to frustrate the South Africans with a 0-0 stalemate at the Moses Mabhida Stadium.
The result meant Broos’s troops were forced to wait untiltheir final group game against Rwanda(which they won 3-0) to book their ticket to the 2026 World Cup, set to be hosted by the US, Mexico and Canada. When Bafana and the Warriors rekindle their rivalry in Marrakesh on Monday evening, the Zimbabweans will be targeting a similar performance. Or even better – a win. The latter result is unlikely though.
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