Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos has reiterated his stance on Mbekezeli Mbokazi’s move to the Major League Soccer [MLS] with Chicago Fire, revealing which league would have been perfect for the talented defender.
Mbokazi recently completed a high-profile move from Orlando Pirates to Chicago Fire after his impressive breakout season in the PSL. The 20-year-old has been the most-talked-about player in South African football after displaying mature performances for the Soweto giants in the 2025/26 season.
The KZN-born centre-back was promoted to the Pirates’ first team from the club’s DStv Diski Challenge side in March 2025. After his promotion, Mbokazi established himself as one of the top defenders in South Africa, earning his place in the Bafana squad in the past few months.
In the current campaign, Mbokazi has played a major role in helping Pirates clinch the MTN8 and Carling Knockout Cup titles in the 2025/26 season. The left-footed defender, as captain, has also guided the Sea Robbers to the top of the Betway Premiership log standings after the conclusion of the first half of the season.
Mbokazi is part of the Bafana squad participating in the ongoing 2025 AFCON in Morocco, and he recently put in an impressive performance in the side’s 1-0 defeat against Egypt, closing down Liverpool star Mohamed Salah.
HUGO BROOS SUGGESTS MBOKAZI IS BETTER SUITED FOR SPAIN OR FRANCE
Broos believes that Mbokazi’s technical profile is better suited for the tactical demands of Spain’s La Liga or France’s Ligue 1, rather than the MLS—a league the Belgian tactician has openly admitted he does not rate highly.
“Mbokazi should go to a bigger competition, I mean, a European competition. Let’s say France or Spain.
“Not Real Madrid or Barcelona, but a good Spanish team, then he becomes better and better. He’s already at a high level; he will just improve further when he plays against better players.
“If you see the level he’s on now, and please don’t misunderstand me because I don’t want to compare him with Vincent Kompany, I see the same things. Kompany was also confident at that age, and he needed to go somewhere else, which was in Germany, and then he went to Manchester City FC, where he became a fantastic player.
“This is something that can happen with Mbokazi also; therefore, Chicago is not the right place. People were angry when I said this two weeks ago; you saw why I was saying that.
“For me, he was the Man-of-the-Match, the way that he played the game against Egypt, I just remember in the second-half going in duels with Salah. Salah didn’t have any chance, and that shows the quality of Mbokazi.”
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