{"id":746,"date":"2025-11-01T22:06:27","date_gmt":"2025-11-01T22:06:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ecmessenger.co.za\/?p=746"},"modified":"2025-11-01T22:13:45","modified_gmt":"2025-11-01T22:13:45","slug":"banyana-book-their-place-in-the-2026-wafcon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ecmessenger.co.za\/index.php\/2025\/11\/01\/banyana-book-their-place-in-the-2026-wafcon\/","title":{"rendered":"Banyana book their place in the 2026 WAFCON"},"content":{"rendered":"<header id=\"masthead\" class=\"sticky is-undocked\">\n<div class=\"site-header container\">\n<nav id=\"site-navigation\" class=\"main-navigation\" aria-label=\"Main menu\">\n<div class=\"primary-menu-container is-flex is-align-items-center\">\n<div class=\"menu-header-container\">Sasol Banyana Banyana have booked their place in the 2026 Women\u2019s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) after beating DR Congo 1-0 in a second leg qualifier (2-1 on aggregate) played at the Dobsonville Stadium on Tuesday night.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/nav>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<article class=\"post-40378 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-banyana-banyana category-caf category-general-news category-home-top-featured category-national-women category-news\">\n<div class=\"post-inner\">\n<div id=\"post-40378\" class=\"post-content container\">\n<p>The South African senior women\u2019s national team officially qualified for the continental tournament after a dramatic 1\u20130 victory courtesy of a lone strike from Thembi Kgatlana.<\/p>\n<p>After drawing 1\u20131 in Kinshasa during the first leg last week, Banyana Banyana entered the return fixture with a crucial away-goal advantage. The task was clear \u2013 protect their defensive line and avoid conceding, while looking for an insurance goal to seal qualification. That decisive moment arrived in the final minute of the game when Kgatlana delivered the winner to secure South Africa\u2019s place at WAFCON 2026, which will take place in March next year in Morocco.<\/p>\n<p>The home side were dominant in the first half, controlling possession and creating multiple scoring opportunities, while the second half saw DR Congo grow in confidence and threaten on the counter. Despite the mounting pressure, the home side held firm until Kgatlana\u2019s strike confirmed the result. Acting coach Thinasonke Mbuli praised her team\u2019s composure and resilience under pressure.<\/p>\n<div id=\"post-40378\" class=\"post-content container\">\n<p>\u201cI mentioned yesterday that we had to win and yes, we were frustrated towards the end of the game because it was 0-0 and they were coming at us. I give credit to the defenders for absorbing the pressure,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Mbuli reflected on the team\u2019s preparations in the coming months and emphasized the importance of continued match fitness during the domestic off-season.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have a window that\u2019s coming up now in November, which is the last FIFA window for the year. We\u2019re hoping we can get a friendly match because the tricky part for us now is that WAFCON is in March and our league is off during that time.<br \/>\n\u201cOur players in December will be off, and by the beginning of March, WAFCON kicks off. We\u2019re going to have to find a balance between players going off-season and remaining active.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lebohang Ramalepe was named Queen of the Match for her outstanding defensive display and leadership at the back. DR Congo coach Lukamba Mbayo Omer acknowledged South Africa\u2019s quality while expressing pride in his side\u2019s performance.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn preparations, we understood the style of South African football and Banyana Banyana, but not necessarily the individual players. We understood how the team plays as a collective, but we didn\u2019t pick up on each individual player,\u201d he said. SAFA President Dr Danny Jordaan congratulated the team after their qualification.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-footer container\">\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sasol Banyana Banyana have booked their place in the 2026 Women\u2019s Africa Cup of Nations<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":747,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ecmessenger.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/746","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ecmessenger.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ecmessenger.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ecmessenger.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ecmessenger.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=746"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ecmessenger.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/746\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":749,"href":"https:\/\/ecmessenger.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/746\/revisions\/749"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ecmessenger.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ecmessenger.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ecmessenger.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ecmessenger.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}