South Africa’s home-based core is their biggest asset | OneFootball

South Africa are leaning on a powerful domestic league as they enter AFCON 2025 in Group B, having finished third last time and qualified for the next World Cup from 11 June to 19 July. According to L'Équipe, structure and finance underpin the model.

Only eight of Hugo Broos’s squad play outside the Betway Premiership. Orlando Pirates supply nine and recently won the MTN 8, the early season cup for the previous campaign’s top eight, while Mamelodi Sundowns contribute five.

European footprints remain small. Since Pierre Issa’s stint at Marseille from 1996 to 2001, Ligue 1 has taken only 10 South Africans, including Lebo Mothiba, Lebogang Phiri and Bongani Zungu, while the Premier League has had 16 since 1992.

Marumo Gallants coach Alexandre Lafitte cites major broadcast income, a 45 million euro deal for 2024 to 2027, strong unions and five-figure monthly wages. Reporter Mark Gleeson adds that earnings can beat Belgium, Portugal or even Europe’s top four second tiers.

Sundowns, nicknamed the Brazilians for their kit, featured at the last Club World Cup. Majority owned at 51% by Patrice Motsepe, CAF’s president since March 2021, they operate with facilities comparable to leading European teams.

With little incentive to leave, clubs resist sales. Orlando Pirates kept 21-year-old Relebohile Mofoke from a possible switch to Qatar. Football outstrips rugby in popularity at home, and their AFCON and World Cup campaigns could underline it.

Source: L'Équipe