We want to end on a high note – Banyana coach Dr Ellis – South African Football Association

24 July 2025 – Banyana Banyana go into their final CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) 2024 match with one thing in mind, to end the tournament on a high note.

The South African senior women’s national team take on Ghana in a third and fourth playoff match that will be played on Friday (25 July 2025) at the Larbi Zaouli Stadium in Casablanca, Morocco. Kickoff is at 21h00 SA Time (20h00 local time in Morocco).

Banyana Banyana and the Black Queens met in their opening match of the tournament, with South Africa emerging 2-0 winners following first half goals from Linda Motlhalo and Jermaine Seoposenwe. But a lot has happened since then. Both nations have not progressed to the final of this year’s tournament and will now fight for bronze.

“Obviously the ambition was to get to the final and go back-to-back – a bit of disappointment in not reaching it but we still have a game to play. We want to end on a high note and obviously go home with our heads held high. We’ve got one training session to go today, there’s not a lot that you can do, we’ve done so many things during the tournament. We have played against Ghana and it’s always difficult to play the same team twice in the tournament, but we’ll give it our best shot,” said Banyana Banyana coach Dr Desiree Ellis.

“This is not the match we wanted to play, but it’s in front of us. We want to go home with something, not just for Gaby (Salgado) but for Jermaine (Seoposenwe) as well. We were hoping to give her a fantastic send-off, but unfortunately it didn’t work that way.”

This will be South Africa’s fifth match in the tournament after three wins – against Ghana, Mali and Senegal – along with a draw and a defeat against Tanzania and Nigeria respectively.

After missing out on the previous edition of the WAFCON, the Ghanaians find themselves playing for bronze, something that pleases head coach Kim Björkegren.

“The first goal was to make the playoffs and then we also talked about being among the top four, because if you are there consistently you will end up winning it. For us this is a good statement that we are good enough to go to the World Cup in future and with the tournament coming in Brazil, to be there you have to be in the top four. We want to be with those that fight for the top four every year. We have been really brave in the way we are playing, we are attacking everyone, we have worked hard,” said Björkegren.

The South Africans are expected back on Wednesday morning.

Meanwhile hosts Morocco and Nigeria will contest the WAFCON 2024 final on Saturday, 26 July at the Olympic Stadium in Rabat.

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