Replacing Hugo Broos! Former Manchester United coach & UEFA Intertoto Cup winner backed to take charge of Bafana Bafana post-2026 FIFA World Cup

After the 2026 World Cup finals, Bafana are expected to be under a new man, as Broos is expected to finally leave the football world and fully retire.

The former Cameroon head coach has emphasised that the global showpiece would be his last engagement with football.

To replace him, former Pirates star Teboho Moloi has identified Benni McCarthy and the current Bafana assistant coach Helman Mkhalele as the best candidates to take over. 

Moloi has argued that it is time to trust South African coaches who have experience to handle the ever-ambitious Bafana.

"It's about time here at home we respect our own homegrown coaches. All along, the noise was 'Helman doesn't have qualifications' or 'Helman is not suitable to work as a Bafana Bafana assistant or at whatever level'," Moloi told KickOff. 

"Hugo Broos has said that 'Helman must replace me' because he can see his knowledge; he can see this man has played at the highest level. In 1995, he won a star for Orlando Pirates; in 1996, he won the AFCON for Bafana Bafana. How many years did he spend playing overseas in Turkey?

"Benni has to go to Kenya to prove he's a qualified coach? Like Helman, he has played at the highest level. Benni has proven without doing any favour that he can lead a national team," he added.

"Helman has proven himself as an assistant coach; even Hugo Broos is saying a lot about him. So for once, when it comes to the national team, let's look at our own. They are qualified, they have papers, and they have experience.

"There is also Shaun Bartlett, who can become Benni and Mkhalele's scout. What must Benny and Helman do to prove they deserve to work together to lead our national team?"

If Mkhalele succeeds his boss, this will represent continuity, as he has been with the team learning under the experienced Belgian.

Recently, Bafana legend Mark Fish identified Mkhalele as the best man to take over, and this means the tactician has earned trust that he is now ready for the top job. 

 “We can’t underestimate the importance of what Helman [Mkhalele] has done alongside Broos,” Fish said.

“We’ve seen the success of the team, and Helman has been a key part of that. Why not give him a chance? Our junior national teams are qualifying for World Cups, so we finally have some continuity in our football. Why not have that at the highest level of the national team?  

“The suggestion about upgrading [coaching badges] is something Helman will need to take seriously. He knows the players, and he’s done a phenomenal job as a link between the players and Broos. He’s someone that can be trusted.”

However, going for McCarthy will be the beginning of a different dispensation. The former Manchester United first team coach is in charge of Kenya's national team now. 

He led a rather successful campaign in the African Nations Championship (CHAN), where Kenya were eliminated from the quarter-finals by eventual finalists Madagascar.

Harambee Stars also struggled in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, finishing a distant fourth in Group D, just above Burundi and Seychelles.

McCarthy and his charges were handed a brutal reality check in the just-concluded international break. Senegal whitewashed them by a humiliating 8-0 scoreline, one of the worst results for Harambee Stars in history, and this is a stain on the coach's rather good CV.

However, his stint with Kenya is viewed as a learning process for the former Porto FC star, and he has always been tipped as a prime candidate to coach Baana one day in the future. 

Although McCarthy, who won the 2000 UEFA Intertoto Cup as a Celta Vigo player, is understood to have the trust of the Football Kenya Federation officials to develop Harambee Stars for the 2027 AFCON finals, the prospect of coaching his native national team might be too tempting for him.