Banyana Banyana’s resilience saw them overcome a gutsy Burkina Faso side 1-0 in a crucial group-stage outing played last night – Tuesday, securing a quarter-final berth in the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON). The quarter-finals will take place on Saturday, with the four winners automatically qualifying for the 2027 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

Thembi Kgatlana scored the all-important goal of the fixture, which was a must-win for South Africa in pursuit of their two-fold mission at the competition: to reclaim the continental title and secure qualification for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil. South Africa finished as runners-up in Group B with four points, while undefeated Ivory Coast finished top with seven points.

The football gods aligned with South Africa during a chaotic Group B campaign as they faced elimination with a draw against Burkina Faso. A draw between Tanzania and Ivory Coast, combined with South Africa’s 1-0 win over Burkina Faso, would have resulted in Banyana Banyana being eliminated from the tournament. As fate would have it, Ivory Coast defeated Tanzania 2-1 in another fixture played simultaneously.

In their quarter-final match on Saturday, Banyana Banyana face an Everest to climb in Morocco in their quest. The two arch-rivals will face off in this high-stakes knockout match at the Moulay El Hassan Stadium in Rabat.

Dr Desiree Ellis’s charges defeated Morocco 2-1 in 2022 to claim their historic first WAFCON title. While she credited the players’ resilience against Burkina Faso, Dr Ellis lamented their inability to convert the scoring opportunities the team creates, a critical area needing improvement ahead of the high-stakes fixture against the host nation, Morocco.

“Now the games are coming thick and fast, there’s no margin for error. We have also showed that we can grind out results. I think in 2018 we played probably the best football of the tournament and we didn’t win it. In 2022 we mixed it up, so we’ve learned that you can’t play pretty all the time and that’s what people expect from Banyana Banyana. But we will take it step by step and day by day,” said Dr Ellis.

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