BREAKING: Banyana’s opponents for World Cup play-offs spot confirmed
Rugby
Podcasts & Videos
The Club House
Win
–>
Banyana Banyana captain Refiloe Jane celebrates a goal at the Wafcon. Photo: Zamani Makautsi/Gallo Images
Home
Psl
SA National Teams
BREAKING: Banyana’s opponents for World Cup play-offs spot confirmed
Aug 20, 2026 – 02:04 pm
By Siya Ndlela
Banyana Banyana have discovered their play-off opponents in the preliminary phase draw for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027 Play-Off Tournament for a spot at next year’s World Cup.
Desiree Ellis’ charges kept their World Cup hopes alive by edging out rivals Nigeria 2-1 in a high-stakes WAFCON play-in fixture.
South Africa’s senior women’s team now heads into the intercontinental play-offs, where 10 teams will battle it out with only three heading to next year’s World Cup.
In the mini tournament, six lower-ranked teams (including South Africa) will first battle in the preliminary phase from November to December 2026; two top teams will progress from this round.
Those two advancing teams will then join four top-seeded teams in the final knockout phase in February 2027 to determine the three ultimate qualifiers heading to Brazil.
Preliminary Round ➡️ Final Phase ➡️ FIFA Women’s World Cup Qualification 🌎How will the Preliminary round of the @FIFAWWC Play-off Tournament work? 🏆 pic.twitter.com/bLkNXIBete
The highly anticipated draw, which was conducted at the FIFA Headquarters in Zurich on Thursday, pitted South Africa against Chinese Taipei (Taiwan), Uzbekistan, and Ecuador.
To seal qualification for the showpiece—set to be played in Brazil between 24 June and 25 July 2027—South Africa must finish in the top two of this mini-tournament before navigating a final single-match knockout phase early next year.
The first hurdle for Mzansi’s golden girls will take place during the upcoming international window. These crucial play-off fixtures are scheduled to be played between 24 November and 5 December 2026 at a centralised venue.
The exact dates for these matches are yet to be revealed, as is the venue.
Adverts keep KickOff free to read. Your ad blocker stops them. Please allow adverts on kickoff.com. You can still read without allowing them.