University of Johannesburg (UJ) football coach Karabo Mogudi says some African teams struggled at the 2026 Fifa Word Cup because of a lack of tactical endurance.
Africa produced a strong group stage campaign with nine teams progressing to the knockout stage and some producing eye-catching performances.
Senegal, South Africa, DR Congo, Ivory Coast, Algeria, Cape Verde and Ghana were eliminated in the last 32, and there will be no African team in the semifinal stage after Morocco were beaten by France in the quarterfinals on Thursday.
“One of the main reasons is lack of tactical endurance,” he said during the 112th episode of the Arena Sports Show this week.
If we look at most of our teams, they lost games in the last 10 minutes, and that talks to tactical fatigue
— Karabo Mogudi, UJ football coach
“It is not being able to keep the tactical structure and framework until the last moment of the match. One of the coaches from another continent actually mentioned that if we maintain the structure for as long as possible, we may actually score late goals and beat them.
“If we look at most of our teams, they lost games in the last 10 minutes, and that talks to tactical fatigue. When I talk about tactical endurance, I talk about staying in the game until the last moment.”
Mogudi, who is also the South Africa U20 and U23 assistant coach, also gave fascinating insights into what happens behind the scenes during preseason training camps.
Clubs are busy with preseason training camps to prepare for the forthcoming 2026/27 Betway Premiership campaign, and Mogudi said this is the most important phase.
He said there must be proper coordination between coaches, conditioning coaches, fitness trainers, the medical team, physiotherapists and dieticians to ensure players are prepared properly.
TimesLIVE
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.