South Africa beat Nigeria to keep 2027 Women’s World Cup hopes alive

South Africa kept their hopes of reaching the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup alive with a 2-1 victory over Nigeria, securing a place in the inter-confederation play-offs.

The result means Banyana Banyana will continue their qualification campaign after missing out on an automatic route to the tournament. South Africa’s hopes of direct qualification ended with a defeat by Morocco in the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finals, while Nigeria were also forced into the play-offs after losing to Cameroon last Sunday.

Coach Desiree Ellis made one change to the side that started against Morocco, handing Ronnel Donnelly her first start of the tournament in place of Isabella Ludwig, who dropped to the bench.

South Africa controlled much of the opening period, enjoying the greater share of possession as Nigeria adopted a cautious approach and looked to absorb the pressure.

However, Banyana Banyana found it difficult to create clear opportunities inside the penalty area. Nigeria’s defence remained compact and Asisat Oshoala, one of the Super Falcons’ main attacking threats, was largely kept quiet during the first half.

The match opened up after the interval, with South Africa finally breaking the deadlock in the 56th minute.

Hilda Magaia surged down the left before choosing to pass rather than shoot. Her unselfish delivery found Thembi Kgatlana, who calmly finished to score her third goal of the WAFCON.

Nigeria came close to an equaliser in the 74th minute when Kanu rose to meet a dangerous cross. But South Africa goalkeeper Kaylin Swart produced an outstanding one-handed save to preserve her side’s advantage.

South Africa then appeared to put the result beyond doubt three minutes later. Captain Refiloe Jane reacted first to a loose ball on the edge of the box and struck a powerful effort which took a deflection before finding the back of the net.

The closing stages brought late drama. Jane was sent off in stoppage time after handling the ball and conceding a penalty. Uchiebe converted from the spot in the 90th minute plus three minutes, but Nigeria could not find a second equaliser before the final whistle.

South Africa will now turn their attention to the inter-confederation play-offs, which are scheduled to begin in November this year. They will compete against five nations from other confederations for the chance to reach the final phase of the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifiers.

The teams confirmed for the play-offs so far are South Africa and Ghana from the Confederation of African Football (CAF), along with Uzbekistan and Chinese Taipei from Asia.