Banyana Banyana face Nigeria in crucial World Cup qualification play-off

Casablanca Bongeka Gamede says Banyana Banyana’s hopes of reaching next year’s World Cup remain alive despite their quarter-final defeat by Morocco, with old rivals Nigeria now standing between South Africa and another route to the tournament.

South Africa were beaten 2-1 by the hosts at Moulay El Hassan Stadium in Rabat on Saturday, ending their hopes of securing automatic qualification for next year’s World Cup in Brazil.

Their next opportunity comes on Thursday, when Banyana Banyana meet fellow quarter-final losers and defending champions Nigeria at Casablanca’s Moulay Rachid Stadium. The match is scheduled to begin at 22:00 South Africa time.

Nigeria are the record 10-time winners of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations and have developed a long-standing rivalry with South Africa. The winner of Thursday’s match will earn one of CAF’s two intercontinental play-off places.

That team will then face two rounds of play-offs against opponents from other continents, who have yet to be confirmed, for a place at next year’s World Cup in Brazil.

“Definitely it’s not over…we have another opportunity and that should be the motivation. We must remain fully focused and believe that the dream is still there,” Gamede said.

The meeting with Nigeria offers Banyana Banyana a chance to recover from a difficult campaign at the ongoing Women’s Africa Cup of Nations. They began Group B with a surprise 2-1 defeat by Tanzania before drawing 2-2 with Ivory Coast in their second match.

A 1-0 victory over Burkina Faso in their final group fixture was enough to send them into the quarter-finals, where Morocco ended their hopes of progressing directly to the World Cup.

Nigeria, meanwhile, were stunned by Cameroon in the semi-finals, setting up a meeting with Banyana Banyana that is expected to reignite one of African women’s football’s most familiar rivalries.

Despite the disappointing results, Gamede rejected the suggestion that something had gone fundamentally wrong for South Africa during the tournament. The defender, who plays for Danish A-Liga club FC Nordsjælland, said defeats were part of football and refused to place responsibility for the team’s six conceded goals solely on the defence.

“I don’t think I can say there’s something wrong. Everyone who knows football knows that football is like this, you can’t always be at the top,” Gamede said.

She also argued that defensive work began much earlier than the final line of defence, with the entire team sharing responsibility for preventing opponents from creating chances.

“Conceding starts from how you press, so we can’t really say as defenders we are to blame because we play as a team.”

With automatic qualification no longer possible, South Africa must now overcome Nigeria to keep their World Cup ambition on course.