Kgatlana sends Banyana Banyana into Wafcon quarter-finals after Burkina Faso win

Thembi Kgatlana says Banyana Banyana were never prepared to surrender their hopes of reaching the Wafcon quarter-finals after her goal secured a crucial victory over Burkina Faso on Tuesday.

Kgatlana’s decisive strike earned South Africa a 1-0 win against Alimata Belem’s Burkina Faso in their final Group B fixture, sending the defending champions into the knockout stages.

Banyana Banyana finished second in the group with four points, three behind leaders Ivory Coast. Ivory Coast secured top spot after beating Tanzania 2-1 in the other final group match.

South Africa had faced the prospect of an early exit after a difficult opening to the tournament. They lost to Tanzania in their first match before drawing with Ivory Coast, leaving them needing a victory against Burkina Faso and a favourable result in the concurrent fixture.

Kgatlana, who was named Player of the Match, admitted South Africa had not started the tournament as they would have wanted. However, she said the team had recovered their momentum when it mattered most.

“Sometimes football gives you what you get,” said Kgatlana, who walked away with the Player of the Match award. “As a team, we started very slowly, but we started to get our momentum in the last game. In the history of South African football, we always know how important it is for us to go through.

“We weren’t going to give up easily. I scored from a mistake at the back, and that helped us control the game a little bit better.”

The goal came after a defensive error by Burkina Faso and gave Banyana Banyana the platform they needed to manage the remainder of the match. Although South Africa were unable to produce a fluent or clinical performance, the result was enough to secure their place in the last eight.

Kgatlana acknowledged that the performance was not one of South Africa’s most polished, but insisted that advancing to the quarter-finals was the priority.

“Sometimes football is not always nice with tactics,” Kgatlana said. “You get the three points and move forward. I think that’s what we needed as a team. You can see that everyone is happy and smiling in the locker room. They know how much it means to progress.”

South Africa will now meet hosts Morocco in the quarter-finals in Rabat on Saturday.

The match carries significance beyond the Wafcon, with a victory sending Banyana Banyana directly to the 2027 World Cup. Should South Africa lose, they will instead have to go through the play-offs to secure a place at the tournament in Brazil.

Their progression follows a campaign that began with a defeat by Tanzania and a draw against Ivory Coast, but Kgatlana’s late tournament influence has helped the team recover from that slow start. Her goal against Burkina Faso ultimately proved enough to keep South Africa’s hopes of retaining their continental challenge alive.