Pitso Mosimane Returns as Bafana Coach After World Cup Success

JOHANNESBURG – Pitso Mosimane is heading back to the Bafana Bafana hot seat, this time with the full weight of a nation fresh from a World Cup breakthrough behind him.

The South African Football Association (SAFA) has approved Mosimane’s appointment as the new national team coach following the departure of Hugo Broos, clearing the way for one of the country’s most decorated coaches to return to a job he knows well – and one that now carries greater expectation than ever.

The decision was ratified at a SAFA National Executive Committee meeting, where members backed Mosimane to take charge of the side that has just written a new chapter in South African football history at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

This is not a rescue mission from the rubble. It is a handover at a high point.

Bafana Bafana reached the knockout rounds of the World Cup for the first time, a run lit up by a statement victory over South Korea that resonated far beyond the scoreline. That result, and the composure shown on the biggest stage, has shifted the conversation around the national team from hope to genuine belief.

Now the responsibility falls to Mosimane to turn that momentum into something lasting.

SAFA indicated that a few administrative details still need to be finalised before the deal is completely done, but the green light has been given in principle and an official announcement is expected next week. The paperwork may lag slightly behind, yet the direction of travel is clear.

For Mosimane, this is a return to familiar territory. He previously led Bafana in a caretaker role in 2007 before taking permanent charge from 2010 to 2012, a spell that offered flashes of promise without the platform of a World Cup knockout run to build on.

This time, he inherits a group that has already broken a glass ceiling. The question now is simple and unforgiving: can he turn a historic World Cup into the start of a new era rather than a single, unforgettable summer?