Banyana Banyana of South Africa qualified for the quarter finals of the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, WAFCON after beating Burkina Faso 1-0 in Casablanca on Tuesday.
Former African footballer of the year, Thembi Kgatlana scored the only goal of the game in the 21st minute to help South Africa finish second in Group B with four points
The team managed by Desiree Ellis had to win the game and hope that the result of the other group game favoured them after starting the tournament with a shock 2-1 loss to Tanzania in their first game.
The 2022 champions went 2-0 down against Cote D’ivoire in their second game but rallied back in the second half with goals from Kgatlana and Hildah Magaia to snatch a 2-2 draw.
Finishing second in Group B means South Africa will take on Group B winners, the hosts, Morocco in the quarterfinals.
The last time the two teams clashed in the competition was in the final in 2022 which South Africa won 2-1.
In the other game on Tuesday night, Cote D’ivoire beat Tanzania 2-1 to top Group B with 7 points. They will battle Group A runners up, Algeria in the quarter finals.
Attention now shifts to Group C where 10-time champions, Nigeria will take on Egypt while Malawi faced Zambia.
Malawi tops the group with 6 points followed by Nigeria on 3. Zambia also have 3 points but are third in the group because of an inferior head to head against Nigeria.
The four semi-finalists at this year’s WAFCON will automatically advance to the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil.
After internal playoffs, two losing quarter-finalists will play in the Inter-Confederation Playoffs.