Banyana Sink Nigeria To Keep World Cup Dream Alive
Banyana Banyana kept their 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup dream alive after defeating Nigeria 2-1 to advance to the inter-confederation play-offs.
Fixture: South Africa v NigeriaScore: 2-1Goalscorers: Kgatlana (56′), Jane (77′) / Uchiebe (90+3′)
South Africa missed out on automatic qualification for the World Cup after losing to Morocco in their Women’s Africa Cup of Nations quarter-final while the Super Falcons suffered defeat to Cameroon last Sunday.
Coach Desiree Ellis handed Ronnel Donnelly her first start of the tournament in place of Isabella Ludwig, who dropped to bench as the only change from the side that started the defeat to the North Africans.
Banyana enjoyed most of the possession in the early stages of the first half, but they struggled to carve out any serious chances in the 18-yard area against a Nigerian side, who were happy to sit back and soak up the pressure.
That proved to be the trend for the remainder of the first half, as neither nation were able to crate any serious openings at goal, with Nigeria’s Asisat Oshoala being kept quiet by the Banyana defenders for most of the stanza.
That all changed in the second half when the South Africans finally got their reward four minutes before the hour mark when Hilda Magaia broke free down the left flank before unselfishly teeing up Thembi Kgatlana, who slotted home her third goal at WAFCON.
The Super Falcons nearly hit back on 74 minutes when Kanu rose above her markers to meet an inviting cross, but South African goalkeeper Kaylin Swart pulled off a superb one-handed save to keep her nation in the lead.
Banyana went on to seal the win with 13 minutes left on the clock as captain Refiloe Jane pounced on a loose ball on the edge of the box and unleashed a powerful strike that took a deflection and sailed into the back of the net. The clash did end on a sour note Jane, who was sent off in stoppage time for handling the ball and giving away penalty, which Uchiebe converted for a consolation.
South Africa will now look ahead to the inter-confederation play-offs, which gets underway in November this year, where they will compete with against five nations from the other federations with the hope of reaching the final phase of the qualifiers.
South Africa (CAF)Ghana (CAF)Uzbekistan (Asia)Chinese Taipei (Asia)
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