Hugo Broos has helped Bafana Bafana qualify for the FIFA World Cup for the first time in nearly 25 years (as they did not need to do so in 2010) and for only the third time in the country’s history.

While South Africa’s group in the 2026 edition of the tournament is tough, with the likes of Mexico and South Korea, many remain hopeful that the team can progress past the group stages for the first time in their history.

What about Hugo Broos as a manager is giving South African fans confidence rather than mere hope that national history will be made?

To start, Broos has experience competing in the tournament as a player.

Born in Humbeek, Belgium, on 10 April 1952, he began playing as a defender for his hometown youth team before being scouted by RSC Anderlecht in 1970 at the age of 18.

This would become his home for the next 13 years, where he won several major trophies, including three Belgian league titles, three European trophies, and four Belgian Cups.

In 1974, he was called up to the Belgium national team at the age of 22, earning 24 caps. Though it would take some time to play in a World Cup, he was eventually named in Guy Thys’s squad for the 1986 edition of the tournament, where his country placed fourth.

By this time, Broos had been playing for Club Brugge, another juggernaut in Belgian football, for three years. He remained at the club until retiring from professional football in 1988 at age 36.

However, by 1991, he was back at the club as manager of the first team, where he won the Belgian Pro League in his second season and again in 1996. He also won the Belgian Cup three times during this period.

After leaving in 1998, Broos then went to coach Anderlecht in 2002, helping them qualify for the Champions League and win the Belgian Pro League.

However, he was sacked for the first time in his career the following season after poor performances in cup competitions.

He was then appointed as the head coach of KRC Genk, which he managed for nearly three years.

Broos was awarded Belgian Coach of the Year four times during his time managing in his home country, twice at Club Brugge in 1992 and 1996, once at Anderlecht in 2004, and once with KRC Genk in 2007.

Broos was then appointed as the coach of Greek outfit Panserraikos in 2008 but was unable to prevent the team from being relegated despite a strong domestic cup run. He was sacked at the end of the season.

This was followed by a series of even shorter stints at various clubs, including Turkish side Trabzonspor, Zulte Waregem in Belgium, and JS Kabylie and NA Hussein Dey in Algeria.

After not managing more than 25 games at a club since his days at Genk, Broos moved to international management after being offered a job by Cameroon in 2016. By the time he left the side in December of the following year, he had helped them win an Africa Cup of Nations trophy for the first time in 15 years.

After a sabbatical from coaching, during which he worked as the technical director of Belgian club KV Oostende for a month, Broos was approached by the South African Football Association in 2021 after the sacking of Molefi Ntseki.

Bafana Bafana have played 71 games under Broos, winning 34 (48%), drawing 25, and losing only 12.

Despite this strong record, the best performance by the side in a cup competition was a third-place finish in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.

Bafana’s qualifying campaign for the World Cup was anything but easy, as they were placed in a group with the Nigerian Super Eagles and had to forfeit a game after fielding an ineligible player against Lesotho.

Despite this, they finished top of their group, booking them a spot in football’s premier tournament.

However, this will be the first and last time Broos coaches a team at a FIFA World Cup, as he has announced that he will step down from coaching after the tournament, following a coaching career spanning nearly four decades.