HUGO BROOS: ANALYZING BAFANA'S 55% WIN RATE, CLEAN SHEETS, AND WORLD CUP RISE
Hugo Broos has led Bafana Bafana to an astonishing 20-match unbeaten streak on the field, with a defensive record showing 8 clean sheets in their last 10 competitive games.
Since his start in May 2021, Hugo Broos has been in charge of Bafana Bafana for 33 important games. He got the team to the Africa Cup of Nations finals twice and the 2026 World Cup. They haven't lost a game on the field in the last two years.
Of those games, they've only lost four on the field. They haven't lost any of the last 20 important games since losing 2-0 to Mali at the start of the Africa Cup of Nations in the Ivory Coast in 2024.
There's one thing to remember: the 2-0 win against Lesotho in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers was changed to a 3-0 loss because of the Teboho Mokoena situation.
But we're only looking at what happened on the field during the game, so we're keeping the original result. Also, the semi-final loss to Nigeria on penalties at the last Africa Cup of Nations is being counted as a 1-1 draw, which is what FIFA says.
Broos has won 18 of those 33 games (55%), drawn 11 (33%), and lost four (12%).
The losses were against Ghana (0-1) in the last game of the 2022 World Cup qualifying group in Cape Coast, when Bafana gave up a questionable penalty, and a 2-1 loss to Morocco at the start of qualifying for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.
They also lost 2-0 to Rwanda on a tough field in one of their first 2026 World Cup qualifiers and 2-0 to Mali in their first game at the Africa Cup of Nations in the Ivory Coast in January 2024.
There have been some good wins, like beating Morocco twice—especially in the Round of 16 at the last Africa Cup of Nations—a home win against Ghana at Soccer City, a big 2-0 win against Benin in a World Cup qualifier played in Abidjan, and a 5-0 home win against Congo, their second-biggest ever.
Broos hasn't been able to beat Nigeria yet. All three games they've played under him have ended 1-1.
The team is still getting better with him as coach. In their last 10 important games, they've had eight clean sheets, only let in two goals, and scored 22. Only Congo and Nigeria have scored against them in that time.
In all 33 games, Bafana has scored 53 goals and let in 22.
Lyle Foster and Teboho Mokoena have scored the most goals under Broos in important games, with seven each. Oswin Appollis has four, and Evidence Makgopa has three.
CRISTIANO RONALDO PROTESTS AL-HILAL'S BENZEMA DEAL BY SKIPPING AL-NASSR LEAGUE MATCH
Cristiano Ronaldo is fuming. Discover why the Al-Nassr star skipped his last match and is now threatening to leave Saudi Arabia.
Cristiano Ronaldo has been the main attraction in the Saudi Pro League ever since he landed in the Middle East three years ago. Now, for the first time, it looks like he’s actually thinking about leaving. He’s frustrated. He feels the playing field isn’t level, and it’s starting to get to him.
Here’s the deal: Four clubs in the league—Al-Ittihad, Al-Nassr, Al-Hilal, and Al-Ahli—get their backing straight from the state. But Ronaldo sat out Al-Nassr’s match against Al-Riyadh on Monday night. Why? He was protesting. He found out Al-Hilal was about to sign Karim Benzema from Al-Ittihad, and that was the last straw. From Ronaldo’s perspective, Al-Hilal keeps getting more freedom to splash cash than everyone else. They’re the current champions, and Ronaldo still hasn’t managed to win his first Saudi title.
Saudi officials tried to calm him down. According to Diario AS, they reached out and argued that most of Al-Hilal’s extra spending comes from Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, not the Public Investment Fund (PIF). Al-Hilal just brought in Kader Meite for €30 million, Saimon Bouabre for €23 million, and now Benzema. Al-Nassr, on the other hand, only managed two free transfers this winter. Sure, they spent a lot more in the summer, but that didn’t seem to matter to Ronaldo.
Reports from Portugal, cited by AS, say Ronaldo’s not ruling anything out—not even leaving Saudi Arabia this summer. That’s despite just signing an extension with Al-Nassr until 2027.
And honestly, he has a point. Since he arrived, Al-Hilal have spent €647 million, while Al-Nassr have shelled out €410 million and Al-Ittihad €365 million. These numbers probably don’t include salaries—and let’s face it, nobody’s making more than Ronaldo. He’s supposed to return on Friday when Al-Nassr face Al-Ittihad, but right now, no one really knows if he’ll play or if he’s planning his next move.
N’GOLO KANTE SKIPS TRAINING AS AL-ITTIHAD BLOCK HIS MOVE TO FENERBAHCE OFFICIALLY
N’Golo Kante has gone on strike at Al-Ittihad after a paperwork error blocked his move to Fenerbahce. Can he still sign by Friday?
N’Golo Kanté didn’t show up for Al-Ittihad training on Tuesday, and it’s not hard to see why. He was all set to head to Fenerbahçe, but the deal fell apart at the last minute—apparently because Al-Ittihad messed up some paperwork. Kante was supposed to fly to Istanbul and sign, but thanks to this administrative slip, he’s stuck in limbo. There’s still a shot at reviving the transfer sinceKanté Turkey’s transfer window stays open until Friday, February 6.
Kante was one of the first big European names to jump to the Saudi Pro League, joining Al-Ittihad in 2023 after seven years with Chelsea. He’s been a key player in Jeddah, helping Al-Ittihad win the 2024-25 league title and the King’s Cup.
Then, in the middle of the January window, word got out that Fenerbahce wanted him. The Turkish club were eager to add a World Cup winner to their squad. The plan was to swap Kante for Youssef En-Nesyri, who’d head to Saudi Arabia. Everything seemed set until deadline day, when news broke that an error by Al-Ittihad in the Transfer Matching System stopped the transfer cold.
Fenerbahce didn’t hold back. They blamed Al-Ittihad directly, saying they’d done everything right: agreements with the players, medicals, paperwork, all wrapped up on time. But Al-Ittihad entered something wrong in the system, and that was that. Fenerbahçe even asked for an extension and reached out to FIFA, but nothing moved. In the end, the deal died, and Fenerbahçe put out a statement saying they understood the frustration and would keep working to strengthen the squad.
Meanwhile, Kante’s making his feelings clear. According to Ben Jacobs, he skipped training on Tuesday, still hoping the move to Fenerbahce can happen. Santi Aouna says talks between the clubs aren’t dead yet. L’Equipe is reporting that Kanté doesn’t want to play for Al-Ittihad while he waits for FIFA’s decision. With the Turkish window open until Friday, there’s still a glimmer of hope for Kante, though En-Nesyri’s move is off the table for now.