The 2026 FIFA World Cup has barely ended, and Pitso Mosimane is already thinking about what comes next — not for the generation that just played in North America, but for the one that is still in school.
Africa's most decorated coach outlined a vision that goes well beyond tactics and transfers. Mosimane makes the case for aligning youth football training with standardised educational and professional development programmes — creating a structured pathway that develops the whole person, not just the footballer. The argument is straightforward but powerful: the continent's talent is not the problem. The systems designed to nurture it are.
The conversation drills into the practical — age-appropriate development strategies that match a young player's physical and cognitive growth, and the kind of meaningful collaboration between schools and football federations that has driven the success of the continent's most advanced football nations. Morocco, as ever, is the reference point.
Above all, Mosimane speaks about legacy. Not the legacy of a single tournament or a single generation, but the kind of long-term institutional legacy that turns a good football decade into a great football century.
Africa has the talent. The question is whether the continent is ready to build the structures that talent deserves.
Source: Ballocentre.com
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