Banyana, Nigeria clash in crucial World Cup qualifier after Wafcon disappointment

Banyana Banyana’s 2027 Fifa Women’s World Cup qualification hopes are hanging by the thinnest of threads. After suffering a quaterfinal exit on the back of a 2-1 defeat to Morocco at the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon), SA’s hopes of being one of the four countries to automatically reach next year’s global spectacle in Brazil vanished.

However, Desiree Ellis’ team have a second chance of qualifying for the World Cup. Banyana Banyana must now undertake an arduous secondary qualification route, which starts when they face off against Nigeria. The Super Falcons, who are record Wafcon winners, also suffered an early exit when they were vanquished by 1-0 by Cameroon in their own quarterfinal clash. 

The other two teams who are poised to battle for World Cup qualification via the lengthy playoff route are Ivory Coast and Ghana. The last remaining teams after those two one-off matches taking place in Morocco on Thursday, 13 August, will proceed to an intercontinental playoff tournament that will feature 10 teams vying for three spots.  

Meanwhile, Morocco, Algeria, Malawi and Cameroon have secured their automatic spots at next year’s World Cup. The latter two countries have also reached the final. Both will be aiming to win the tournament for the first time. Only three countries have claimed overall victory at Africa’s premier women’s soccer tournament: Nigeria (10 times), Equatorial Guinea (twice) and South Africa, with one African title.

Banyana’s Wafcon woes

SA’s senior women’s soccer side came into the 2026 edition of Wafcon under a cloud of darkness as people with the camp painted a picture of division with the Banyana Banyana technical team. The way they played on the way to being eliminated from the quaterfinals by Morocco did little to disprove these allegations.    

Nevertheless, the South Africans must try to set those reported differences aside and focus on taking the first step to reaching the World Cup via the back door, as Banyana Banyana coach Ellis said before the match with Nigeria, which kicks off at 10pm SA time. 

 “It’s not the place we wanted to be. But we’ve been given another opportunity, a big one, to go on a very long journey. We have to bring our A-game, there is no margin for error. The disappointment of losing our previous game will drive us to get a positive result, even though it won’t be an easy game,” said Ellis. 

“We are obviously disappointed [with the early exit],” added the long-serving Banyana boss. “But now we have to lift ourselves up and grab this second opportunity of World Cup qualification with both hands, even though the disappointment of losing to Morocco is still at the back of our minds.

Banyana barely made it out of their group after losing, drawing and winning in their three mini-league matches against Tanzania, Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso. Ellis’ charges eventually finished second behind the Ivorians to squeeze into the quarterfinals. 

On the back of those incoherent displays in the group phase, it was always set to be tough for Banyana in the knockout phase. And so it proved against Morocco. 

Lessons learnt

“What this tournament has taught us as players is to never take things for granted. When you enter such major tournaments, you know that things will not be given to you on a silver platter, it doesn’t matter who you are,” said Banyana captain Refiloe Jane.

“Teams are getting better, their players are getting better. So it’s important for us to reflect on our strengths and weaknesses, then try to get better from there,” the skipper added.

“The match against Nigeria is do or die. But in the past we have shown that we are capable of beating them. Whatever happens, we want to leave the field knowing that we have given it our all in representing SA. Hopefully we come out victorious.”

Her sentiments were echoed by forward Gabriela Moodaly-Salgado, who said: “Yes, it’s been a bumpy road. But it’s not over yet. We just have to believe that if we play our best football on the day, we should win. But we also know that anything can happen. It’s going to be a very demanding game, physically and mentally. However, we are ready for this challenge. We never back down from challenges.”

Beating Nigeria may plaster over Banyana Banyana’s issues. However, their overall 2026 Wafcon shows that there are problems that need to be resolved off the field. DM