Banyana Banyana may have dropped two valuable points in the 1-1 draw against Tanzania on Friday night, but they are still in the right groove to qualify for the quarterfinals of the 2025 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon).
Banyana, who are the defending champions, are still in pole position in Group C. A win would have seen the South Africans secure a place in the knockout stages. They are joint leaders at the top of the group with four points after they defeated Ghana midweek and drew against Tanzania.
Mali, whom Banyana will meet in the final group match on Monday, are in second place. With the inclusion of the quarterfinals in the knockout stage in this year’s tournament, the top two teams and two of the best third-placed teams will advance to the knockout stage. This means that it will require a major miracle for SA not to qualify for the next round of the competition.
Against Mali, Banyana coach Desiree Ellis will have to stick to her winning combination. She took the risk and made wholesale changes against Ghana, and it almost backfired.
The goalkeeping change, where Kaylin Swart started ahead of Andile Dlamini, enraged many followers. Swart did not cover herself in glory, and she conceded a goal that even kindergarten players could have saved.
“We had a good enough team to get a result, they scored early, and we had a chance to score before they could – we didn’t put it away, it is the nature of the game,” said Ellis after the Tanzania game.
Banyana are yet to taste defeat in the Wafcon after 13 games – 10 wins and three draws.
