Four countries, but only two winners guaranteed success!
On the one hand, Nigeria and South Africa stand ready for battle, while on the other side Zambia and Morocco are staring down each other.
The battle is for a ticket to the 2024 Paris Olympic Games which will take place between 24 July and 10 August, with nine cities playing host to the 12 nations that will qualify.
The African continent will be represented by two teams – which means the other pair will have to wait another four years to try their luck.
All four of Nigeria, Zambia, Morocco, and South Africa were at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand – but only three, bar Zambia, managed to progress to the Round of 16.
Of the quartet, only the North Africans have not been to the Olympic Games:
CAF WOMEN’S OLYMPIC QUALIFICATION TO DATE:
| Olympics | Qualifying tournament | #CAF Berths | Qualified teams | Notes | |
| 1996 | (1995 World Cup) | N/A | None | ||
| 2000 | (1999 World Cup) | N/A | Nigeria | ||
| 2004 | Qualifying tournament | 1 | Nigeria | ||
| 2008 | Qualifying tournament | 1.5 | Nigeria | Second-placed team Ghana lost play-off to Brazil | |
| 2012 | Qualifying tournament | 2 | Cameroon & South Africa | ||
| 2016 | Qualifying tournament | 2 | South Africa & Zimbabwe | ||
| 2020 | Qualifying tournament | 1.5 | Zambia | Second-placed team Cameroon lost play-off to Chile | |
| 2024 | Qualifying tournament | 2 |
Zooming in on the battle between the Sasol-sponsored Banyana Banyana and the Super Falcons of Nigeria, one can tell there is a lot of history behind the fixture.
This will be their fifth tie in Olympic qualifiers and the West Africans are yet to lose to South Africa – with three wins for the former, and one match drawn.
In total, the two nations have met 18 times – with Nigeria leading after registering 13 wins compared to South Africa’s four with one duel ending in a stalemate.
Their first clash was 29 years ago – Nigeria annihilating Banyana 11-2 on aggregate in the 1995 FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifier following 4-1 and 7-1 victories.
The Super Falcons would continue their dominance, grabbing a further eight wins and a draw before the South African’s put an end to that.
Banyana Banyana first win against the West Africans was in 2012 in the then African Women’s Championships (now changed to the CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations) held in Equatorial Guinea.
Retired former captain Janine van Wyk struck the only goal in the 83rd minute to not only knock Nigeria out of the tournament but to also record a famous victory.
Over the last few years, it has been an almost swopping of victories between the two nations – but South Africa will feel they have the upper hand after three wins in the last four matches.
In 2018 in Ghana, Thembi Kgatlana spearheaded Banyana Banyana’s success against their more fancied opponents in a 1-0 win in the group stages of WAFCON but South Africa lost in the final 4-3 on penalties following a goalless stalemate.
Desiree Ellis’ charges showed their dominance in the last two fixtures – first a 4-2 win in the Aisha Buhari Cup and a 2-1 victory in Morocco in the group stages of the 2022 WAFCON and went on to lift their maiden continental title.
The South Africans have managed to get positive results in their last six matches – knocking out DR Congo and Tanzania in the Olympic qualifiers as well as Burkina Faso in the WAFCON qualifiers – despite the absence of key players like captain Refiloe Jane, defenders Bambanani Mbane and Bongeka Gamede, and midfielder Sibulele Holweni.
The quartet played a key role at the World Cup, and they are expected to be available for the Nigeria clash, which will a huge boost for the reigning African Champions who are eager to return to the Olympic global stage after missing out in 2020 in Tokyo.
But the Super Falcons will be no pushovers as their last six matches will prove – they knocked out Ethiopia and Cameroon in the Olympic Qualifiers and brushed aside Cape Verde in the WAFCON qualifiers. To top it all, they will be fuelled by the fact that they last played in the Games in 2008 in Beijing.
It will be interesting to see if Nigeria will make use of home advantage in the first leg or whether South Africa will continue where they left off two years ago, with centurion Jermaine Seoposenwe and Hilda Magaia, both based in Mexico, the goal scorers in the 2-1 win.
The fourth and final round matches will be played between 1-9 April and both sides are expected to announce their squads in the next coming days.
Head-to-Head
Banyana Banyana vs Nigeria:
| YEAR | RESULT | SCORE | VENUE | COMPETITION |
| 1995 | Nigeria WIN | 4 – 1 | NIGERIA | FWWC Qualifier (1stleg) |
| 1995 | Nigeria Win | 7 – 1 | SOUTH AFRICA | FWWC Qualifier (2ndleg) |
| 2000 | Nigeria Win | 2 – 0 | SOUTH AFRICA | AWC Final |
| 2002 | Nigeria Win | 5 – 0 | NIGERIA | AWC Semis |
| 2004 | DRAW | 2 – 2 | SOUTH AFRICA | Olympic Qualifiers (1stLeg) |
| 2004 | Nigeria Win | 1 – 0 | NIGERIA | Olympic Qualifiers (2nd Leg) |
| 2006 | Nigeria Win | 2 – 0 | NIGERIA | AWC Group stage |
| 2008 | Nigeria Win | 1 – 0 | EQUATORIAL GUINEA | AWC Group stage |
| 2008 | Nigeria Win | 5 – 0 | NIGERIA | Olympic Qualifiers (1stLeg) |
| 2008 | Nigeria Win | 1 – 0 | SOUTH AFRICA | Olympic Qualifiers (2nd Leg) |
| 2010 | Nigeria Win | 2 – 1 | SOUTH AFRICA | AWC Group stage |
| 2012 | South Africa WIN | 1 – 0 (Van Wyk) | EQUATORIAL GUINEA | AWC Semis |
| 2014 | Nigeria Win | 2 – 1 | NAMIBIA | AWC Semis |
| 2016 | Nigeria Win | 1 – 0 | CAMEROON | WAFCON Semis |
| 2018 | South Africa Win | 1 – 0 (Kgatlana) | GHANA | WAFCON group stage |
| 2018 | Nigeria Win | 0 – 0 (4 – 3 pen) | GHANA | WAFCON Final |
| 2021 | South Africa Win | 2 – 4 (Michelle Alozie (OG), Motlhalo, Salgado, Makhabane) | NIGERIA | Aisha Buhari Cup |
| 2022 | South Africa Win | 2 – 1 (Seoposenwe & Magaia) | MOROCCO | WAFCON group stages |
HISTORY BETWEEN BANYANA BANYANA vs NIGERIA:
Nigeria: 13 wins
RSA: 4 wins
Draw: 1
Olympic Qualifiers:
- Matches: 4
- Wins – Nigeria 3
- Draw – 1
FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS:
- Matches: 2
- Wins: Nigeria 2
WAFCON:
- Matches: 11
- 3 wins for South Africa
- 8 wins for Nigeria
Friendly International: 1
- 1 win for South Africa
Matches played in Nigeria: 6
- Nigeria won 5
- Lost 1
Matches played in South Africa: 5
- South Africa lost 4
- Drew 1
Matches played on neutral ground: 7
- 4 Wins for Nigeria
- 3 Wins for South Africa
- Last four games between the two sides, SA gained the upper hand
- won 3
- lost one on penalties after 0-0 stalemate in the 2018 WAFCON final
By Matlhomola Morake
