Banyana Banyana oust Nigeria to keep FIFA World Cup dream alive

Banyana Banyana kept their 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup dream alive with a 2-1 win over Nigeria on Thursday night.

Thembi Kgatlana and Refiloe Jane scored for Dr Desiree Ellis’ charges before the latter gave away a penalty and received her marching orders deep into stoppage time.

Ucheibe came off the bench and stepped to convert what proved to be a consolation goal for the Super Falcons.

The loss means Nigeria have failed to qualify for the FIFA Women’s World Cup for the first time in their history.

The four WAFCON semifinalists – Morocco, Cameroon, Malawi and Algeria – all secured automatic qualification.

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BANYANA BANYANA KEEP 2027 FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP DREAM ALIVE

Now, for South Africa, this means they have qualified for the Inter-Confederation Playoff preliminary round in November and December.

The preliminary round will consist of six nations, including Banyana Banyana and Ghana who also beat Ivory Coast 2-1 advance.

This means CAF will be represented by two teams – South Africa and Ghana – and should they advance to the Inter-Continental Playoffs in February and March 2027.

Also read: Banyana Banyana lost to Morocco in the WAFCON quarterfinals

SOUTH AFRICA AGAIN RESPONSIBLE FOR NIGERIA’S WORLD CUP QUALIFICATION FAILURE

This is the second time that South Africa denies Nigeria an opportunity to be part of the global showpiece.

Just last year, Bafana Bafana were in the same group as the Super Eagles of Nigeria who were strong favourites to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North Africa.

However, Bafana Bafana, under Hugo Broos, defied the odds and finished top of the Group C log ahead of Nigeria to book their place in the finals.

This despite Bafana Bafana being docked three points for playing Teboho Mokoena who was ineligible to against Lesotho.