Banyana Banyana have advanced to the second round of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games qualifiers without kicking a ball after receiving a bye in the first round.
At a draw conducted in Cairo, Egypt on Wednesday, the South Africans were pitted against the winners between South Sudan and Madagascar, who will get the ball rolling in the early stage of the competition. The first round is scheduled to be played in June 2026, while the second round matches will be held four months later.
“We haven’t been to the Olympic Games since 2016, and that is a long time ago. We need to get back to that big stage,” Banyana coach Desiree Ellis told the Safa website.
‘We want to make it three in a row’
“Now that we have seen the draw, it will help us plan thoroughly for the qualifiers. But for now, we cannot lose focus of what is ahead of us, the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon 2026), which is equally important as it gives us the ticket to the World Cup in Brazil. We want to make it three in a row. Once the competition has concluded in Morocco, the entire focus will shift to the Olympic qualifiers,” she added.
According to Safa, the qualifiers will be played over five rounds, with South Africa, Ghana and Nigeria exempted from the first round. Round three will see the 16 teams battle it out in the two-legged qualifiers with the remaining eight teams advancing to the penultimate round.
After this phase, the final four teams will produce the last two standing that will represent Africa in the United States of America.
CAF Women’s Olympic Games Qualifying Dates:
Round 1:
1-9 June 2026
Round 2:
5-13 October 2026
There are 35 nations taking part in the qualifiers, with only two slots allotted to the African continent at the Olympic Games, which will get underway from 11–29 July 2028 in Los Angeles.
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- Banyana Banyana advanced to the second round of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games qualifiers with a first-round bye.
- The first-round matches, featuring South Sudan vs Madagascar, will take place in June 2026; the second round is scheduled for October 2026.
- South Africa, Ghana, and Nigeria are exempt from the first round in the five-round qualification process.
- The top two African teams from the qualifiers will earn spots at the 2028 Olympics, which run from July 11-29 in Los Angeles.
- Banyana coach Desiree Ellis emphasized focusing first on the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, a pathway to the Women’s World Cup in Brazil, before shifting attention to Olympic qualifiers.
