Relebohile Mofokeng scored a hat-trick for Orlando Pirates and coach Hugo Broos plans to use him as Bafana’s central playmaker.
Jayden Adams missed Bafana’s Africa Cup of Nations squad in 2025 over discipline issues but Broos says he has matured.
Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos says he is excited about the return to form of Relebohile Mofokeng and Jayden Adams ahead of the 2026 Fifa World Cup.
Mofokeng scored a hat-trick as Orlando Pirates beat TS Galaxy 6-0 in Mbombela over the weekend. Pirates are in a tight Betway Premiership title race with Mamelodi Sundowns.
Broos said Mofokeng’s dip in form earlier this season was not surprising for a young player in the spotlight.
“There was so much around his head and he forgot to play football. This is totally normal and I don’t blame him,” Broos said.
Broos plans to use Mofokeng as a central playmaker for Bafana, not as a winger.
“His qualities are intelligence and using the spaces, that is where he is the best,” Broos said.
Broos left Adams out of Bafana’s Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) squad in Morocco in 2025 after discipline problems. In October 2024, Adams was sent home from a Bafana camp.
But Broos said the Mamelodi Sundowns midfielder has grown up.
“The moment he went to Sundowns, he thought everything was done and at some stage he lost himself. He was not playing, he was on the bench and even in the stands,” Broos said.
“He has matured a lot over the last year because he looked in the mirror,” Broos said.
Bafana face Panama at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban on Friday and at Cape Town Stadium on Tuesday. The two games are their last warm-up matches before they travel to North America in May for the 2026 World Cup in June and July.
