South Africa kept their hopes of reaching the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup alive with a hard-fought victory over Nigeria in their Women’s Africa Cup of Nations World Cup play-off on Thursday.
The result keeps Banyana Banyana in the qualification race after both teams missed out on securing their World Cup places through the direct WAFCON route.
Banyana Banyana stay in the race
South Africa came through a demanding contest against one of the continent’s most established women’s football teams. CAF described the victory as hard-fought and confirmed that it keeps South Africa’s World Cup hopes alive.
The victory is an important result for Banyana Banyana, who have represented Africa at each of the last two FIFA Women’s World Cups and are seeking another appearance when the tournament moves to Brazil in 2027.
Nigeria’s campaign ends in disappointment
For Nigeria, the defeat is another difficult result in a tournament in which the Super Falcons had entered with considerable pedigree. Their World Cup qualification position now depends on the competition pathway set out by CAF and FIFA following the play-off stage.
South Africa, meanwhile, move forward with their World Cup ambitions intact. The result does not by itself amount to qualification for Brazil 2027, and the distinction is important as the remaining qualification process continues.
Ghana also advance in qualification race
South Africa were not the only side to keep their World Cup campaign alive on Thursday. Ghana fought back to defeat Côte d’Ivoire in the other play-off, leaving both Banyana Banyana and the Black Queens still in contention.
The two results keep attention on Africa’s qualification race even as WAFCON moves toward its concluding matches.
Source
CAF: South Africa keep FIFA Women’s World Cup hopes alive with hard-fought victory over Nigeria
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