Bafana Bafana’s Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) campaign came to an end on Sunday night following a 2–1 defeat to Cameroon in the Last 16 at the Al Medina Stadium in Rabat, Morocco.
Cameroon took control of the match through a 34th-minute goal from defender Junior Tchamadeu, before Christian Kofane doubled the advantage just two minutes after the start of the second half. Despite sustained pressure and several scoring opportunities, the South African senior men’s national team struggled to convert their chances.
Evidence Makgopa gave Bafana Bafana a late lifeline after pulling one back two minutes before regulation time, but the goal proved insufficient to force a comeback as Cameroon held on to secure their place in the quarter-finals.
Reflecting on the match, head coach Hugo Broos expressed disappointment at the outcome, saying the team had prepared well and created enough chances to change the result, particularly in the first half.
“We are very disappointed and sad that we have been eliminated. I think we had the right plan and everybody saw that, especially in the first half. We had three good chances in the first half, and the game could have been over then,” Broos said.
Bafana Bafana are expected to return to their base in Marrakech on Monday, 5 January 2025, before travelling back to South Africa, bringing their AFCON journey to a close.
We should have scored 3 quick goals in the early first half of the game, but inexperience proved to be fatal for us, coach Broos should have started the game with experienced players, and we also needed the experience of players such as Mthobi Mvala,
And towards the end of the game we really meant business, but all ten players of Cameroon parked the bus at the back, and that showed that we were respected by Cameroon,