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The South Africa women's national football team represents
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
in women's international
soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
and is run by the South African Football Association, the governing body for Soccer in South Africa. Nicknamed Banyana Banyana (The Girls in Sesotho). South Africa competed in two
Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...
, two
FIFA Women's World Cup The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior list of women's national association football teams, women's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internationale de Footb ...
s, and 14 Women's African Cup of Nations, where they were runners up five times before winning once. They also competed at all 10 COSAFA Women's Championships, where they won seven times, came second thrice and finished in fourth place once.


History

Banyana Banyana's first official match was held on 30 May 1993 against
Eswatini Eswatini, formally the Kingdom of Eswatini, also known by its former official names Swaziland and the Kingdom of Swaziland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by South Africa on all sides except the northeast, where i ...
, which they won 14–0. Future Women's AFCON winning coach Desiree Ellis played in that game and scored three of the goals Their first international match outside of Africa was against
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
. They played two matches which they lost 8–0 and 13–0 with the latter being the heaviest defeat in their history. The team's first victory over a nation outside of Africa was in 2000, where they beat
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
by 2–0. This was at the Cyrus Women's Cup. South Africa's biggest win came in a COSAFA Women's Championship match in Gqeberha on 31 July 2019, when they beat the Comoros 17–0. Captain Refiloe Jane scored 4 of the goals.


Olympic Games

They qualified for Olympic football for the first time in
2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
, with coach Joseph Mkhonza. Their second Olympic participation was at 2016's Rio Olympics, under coach Vera Pauw.


Women's Africa Cup of Nations

Banyana appeared in 14 CAF Women's Championships (Now known as Women's AFCON) and were runners up on five occasions (1995, 2000, 2008, 2012 and 2018) and third at two events (2006 and 2010), before eventually winning their first Women's Africa Cup of Nations in 2022, beating
Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...
2–1 in the final.


FIFA Women's World Cup

Coached by Desiree Ellis, they qualified for their first
FIFA Women's World Cup The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior list of women's national association football teams, women's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internationale de Footb ...
in 2019, in Group B with
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
,
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
and
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
. However, they lost all matches, and their only goal was against Spain when they went to a 1–0 lead only to lose 3–1. South Africa qualified for the FIFA Women's World Cup again in 2023, also coached by Desiree Ellis. During the group stages they lost 2–1 to
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
after leading 1–0, drew 2–2 against
Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
after leading 2–0, but finally defeated
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
3–2 and advanced to the Round of 16 for the very first time. They eventually lost 2–0 to the
Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
. Following the team's performance, Desiree Ellis would win the 2023 award for CAF Women's Coach of the Year. The top goal scorers at world cups are Thembi Kgatlana with 3, Hildah Magaia with 2, while Linda Motlhalo also scored one. South Africa's other goal was an own goal by Italy in 2023.


COSAFA Women's Championship

South Africa competed in all eleven COSAFA Women's Championships – a tournament featuring nations from the Southern African region – since its inception in 2002. They have won seven titles (in 2002, 2006, 2008, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020), finished second twice (in 2011 and 2022) and only failed to win a medal twice, when they finished fourth in 2021 and exited in the group stages 2023. In later years, because of South Africa's success and increased participation in bigger world events, management started sending newcomers to COSAFA tournaments, to broaden their talent pool. This contributed to a decline in Banyana Banyana's dominance at this event.


Team image


Nicknames

The South Africa women's national football team has been known or nicknamed as the "''Banyana Banyana''", which literally translates to "Girls Girls", but such double use is often interpreted to mean "all the girls". In the context of sport, it is also understood to mean "go girls, go girls". This name is derived from the Senior Men's National team being "''Bafana Bafana''" which also literally means "the boys the boys". The nickname came into existence from fans shouting "bafana bafana" to mean "go boys, go boys" as encouragement during the South Africa men's team's first international game after many years of sporting isolation due to Apartheid policies in 1992, when they beat Cameroon 1–0 in Durban. The name stuck, and the female form was later applied to the women's team as well.


Results and fixtures

The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled. ;Legend


2024


2025


Coaching staff


Current coaching staff

Technical staff


Manager history


Players


Current Squad

The following players were called up for the two friendlies against and on 28 May and 3 June 2025. ''Caps and goals are correct as of 8 April 2025, after the match against .''


Recent call ups

The following players were called up to the squad within the past 12 months. ;Notes (Append to Name) * = Withdrew due to illness * = Withdrew due to injury * = Preliminary squad / on stand-by * = Retired from National team


Previous squads

;FIFA Women's World Cup * 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup squad * 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup squads ;Summer Olympics * 2012 Summer Olympics squad * 2016 Summer Olympics squad ;Africa Women Cup of Nations * 2000 African Women's Championship squad * 2010 African Women's Championship squad * 2012 African Women's Championship squad * 2014 African Women's Championship squad * 2016 Africa Women Cup of Nations squad * 2018 Africa Women Cup of Nations squad * 2022 Africa Women Cup of Nations squad ;COSAFA Women's Championship * 2020 COSAFA Women's Championship squad * 2021 COSAFA Women's Championship squad * 2022 COSAFA Women's Championship squad * 2023 COSAFA Women's Championship squad * 2024 COSAFA Women's Championship squad ;Turkish Women's Cup * 2023 Turkish Women's Cup squads


Records

* Active players in bold, statistics correct as of 2025.


Most capped players


Top goalscorers


Honours


Major competitions

* Africa Women Cup of Nations ** ''Champions:'' 2022 ** ''Runners-up:'' 1995,
2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...
, 2008,
2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
, 2018 ** ''Third place:'' 2006,
2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...


Continental

* African Games1 ** ''Runners-up:'' 2003, 2007


Regional

* COSAFA Women's Championship ** ''Champions:'' 2002, 2006, 2008, 2017, 2018, 2019,
2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...
** ''Runners-up:''
2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...
, 2022 # Competition organized by the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa, officially not recognized by FIFA.


Competitive record


FIFA Women's World Cup

:''*Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.''


Olympic Games

:''*Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.''


Africa Women Cup of Nations

:''*Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.''


African Games


COSAFA Women's Championship

:''*Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.''


All−time record against FIFA recognized nations

The list shown below shows the women's South Africa national soccer team's all−time international record against opposing nations.
''*As of xxxxxx after match against xxxx.'' ;Key


Record per opponent

''*As ofxxxxx after match against xxxxx.'' ;Key The following table shows South Africa's all-time official international record per opponent:


See also

* Sport in South Africa ** Football in South Africa *** Women's football in South Africa ; National teams * South Africa women's national football team ** South Africa women's national football team results * South Africa women's national under-20 soccer team * South Africa women's national under-17 soccer team * South Africa women's national under-15 soccer team


References


External links


Official websiteFIFA profile
{{National Sports Teams of South Africa African women's national association football teams