See also: South Africa national soccer team.
| Type: | Women |
| South Africa | |
| Badge Size: | 170px |
| Nickname: | Banyana Banyana |
| Association: | South African Football Association |
| Sub-Confederation: | COSAFA (Southern Africa) |
| Confederation: | CAF (Africa) |
| Coach: | Desiree Ellis |
| Captain: | Refiloe Jane |
| Most Caps: | Janine Van Wyk (185) |
| Top Scorer: | Portia Modise (101) |
| Fifa Trigramme: | RSA |
| Fifa Max: | 45 |
| Fifa Max Date: | August 2023 |
| Fifa Min: | 74 |
| Fifa Min Date: | June – September 2005; December 2007 |
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| First Game: | 14–0 (Johannesburg, South Africa; 30 May 1993) |
| Largest Win: | 17–0 (Port Elizabeth, South Africa; 31 July 2019) |
| Largest Loss: | 13–0 (Dalian, China; 7 September 2003) |
| World Cup Apps: | 2 |
| World Cup First: | 2019 |
| World Cup Best: | Round of 16 (2023) |
| Regional Name: | Africa Women Cup of Nations |
| Regional Cup Apps: | 13 |
| Regional Cup First: | 1995 |
| Regional Cup Best: | Champions (2022) |
| 2Ndregional Name: | Summer Olympics |
| 2Ndregional Cup Apps: | 2 |
| 2Ndregional Cup First: | 2012 |
| 2Ndregional Cup Best: | 10th (2012) |
| 3Rdregional Name: | COSAFA Women's Championship |
| 3Rdregional Cup Apps: | 10 |
| 3Rdregional Cup First: | 2002 |
| 3Rdregional Cup Best: | Champions (2002, 2006, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022) |
| Website: | https://www.safa.net/ |
The South Africa women's national football team, nicknamed Banyana Banyana (The Girls), is the national team of South Africa and is controlled by the South African Football Association.
South Africa competed in two Olympic Games, two FIFA Women's World Cups, 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 twice and finished in fourth place once.
Banyana Banyana's first official match was held on 30 May 1993 against Eswatini, which they won 14–0. Future Women's AFCON winning coach Desiree Ellis played in that game and scored three of the goals[1]
Their first international match outside of Africa was against China. 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 by 2–0. This was at the Cyrus Women's Cup.[2]
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.[3] [4]
They qualified for Olympic football for the first time in 2012, with coach Joseph Mkhonza.[5] Their second Olympic participation was at 2016's Rio Olympics, under coach Vera Pauw.
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 2–1 in the final.[6]
Coached by Desiree Ellis, they qualified for their first FIFA Women's World Cup in 2019, in Group B with Germany, Spain and China. 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 after leading 1–0, drew 2–2 against Argentina after leading 2–0, but finally defeated Italy 3–2 and advanced to the Round of 16 for the very first time. They eventually lost 2–0 to the Netherlands.[7] Following the team's performance, Desiree Ellis would win the 2023 award for CAF Women's Coach of the Year.[8]
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.
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.[9]
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.[10]
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.
The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.
Source: Global Sports Archive
| Position | Name | Ref. |
|---|---|---|
| Head coach | Desiree Ellis | |
| Assistant coach | Thinasonke Mbuli | |
| Goalkeeper Coach | Cameron Cox | |
| Performance Analyst | Shilene Booysen | |
| Physical Trainer | Ridhaa Allie | |
| Kit Manager |
Technical staff
| Tenure | Games | Win | Loss | Draw | Win % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sandile Bali[11] | ||||||
| Nomaluno Mooi | ||||||
| Fran Hilton-Smith | ||||||
| Greg Mashilo[12] | – | |||||
| August Makalakalane[13] [14] | – | |||||
| Joseph Mkhonza[15] [16] | – | |||||
| Vera Pauw[17] [18] | – | |||||
| Desiree Ellis[19] | – present |
| width= | Rank | width= | Player | width= | Caps | width= | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Janine van Wyk | 185 | 2005–2023 | ||||
| 2 | Noko Matlou | 157 | 2006– | ||||
| 3 | Nompumelelo Nyandeni | 149 | 2004– | ||||
| 4 | Nothando Vilakazi | 133 | 2007– | ||||
| 5 | Portia Modise | 124 | 2000–2015 | ||||
| 6 | Refiloe Jane | 134 | 2012– | ||||
| 7 | Mamello Makhabane | 109 | 2005– | ||||
| 8 | Amanda Dlamini | 105 | 2007–2016 | ||||
| 9 | Jermaine Seoposenwe | 102 | 2010– | ||||
| 10 | Leandra Smeda | 100 | 2012– | ||||
| 11 | Lebogang Ramalepe | 100 | 2014– | ||||
| 12 | Thokozile Mndaweni | 89 | 2003–2016 |
| width = | Rank | width = | Player | width = | Goals | width = | Caps | width = | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | align=centre | Portia Modise | 101 | 124 | 2000–2015 |
See main article: South Africa at the FIFA Women's World Cup.
| FIFA Women's World Cup record | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Result | ||||||||
 1991 | Did not enter | ||||||||
 1995 | Did not qualify | ||||||||
 1999 | |||||||||
| 2003 | |||||||||
| 2007 | |||||||||
 2011 | |||||||||
 2015 | |||||||||
 2019 | Group stage | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 8 | −7 | |
  2023 | Round of 16 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 8 | −2 | |
 2027 | To be determined | ||||||||
| Total | 2/9 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 16 | −9 | |
| FIFA Women's World Cup history | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Date | Opponent | Result | Stadium |
| 2019 | Group stage | 8 June | L 1–3 | Stade Océane, Le Havre | |
| 13 June | L 0–1 | Parc des Princes, Paris | |||
| 17 June | L 0–4 | Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier | |||
| 2023 | Group Stage | 23 July | L 1–2 | Wellington Regional Stadium, Wellington | |
| 28 July | D 2–2 | Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin | |||
| 2 August | W 3–2 | Wellington Regional Stadium, Wellington | |||
| Round of 16 | 6 August | L 0–2 | Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney |
| Summer Olympics record | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Result | ||||||||
| 1996 | Did not qualify | ||||||||
| 2000 | |||||||||
 2004 | |||||||||
| 2008 | |||||||||
| 2012 | Group stage | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 | −6 | |
| 2016 | Group stage | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | −3 | |
 2020 | Did not qualify | ||||||||
| 2024 | |||||||||
| Total | 2/7 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 10 | −9 | |
| Africa Women Cup of Nations record | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | ||||||||
| 1991 | Banned | ||||||||
| 1995 | Runners-up | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 19 | 20 | −1 | |
 1998 | Group stage | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 7 | −5 | |
 2000 | Runners-up | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 3 | +6 | |
| 2002 | Fourth place | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 11 | −5 | |
| 2004 | Group stage | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 7 | −5 | |
| 2006 | Third place | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 5 | +3 | |
| 2008 | Runners-up | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 4 | +3 | |
| 2010 | Third place | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 6 | +4 | |
| 2012 | Runners-up | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 0 | |
 2014 | Fourth place | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 6 | +1 | |
 2016 | Fourth place | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 3 | +2 | |
 2018 | Runners-up | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 2 | +9 | |
| 2020 | Cancelled due to Covid | ||||||||
 2022 | Champions | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 3 | +7 | |
| 2024 | Qualified | ||||||||
| Total | Champions: 1 time | 62 | 31 | 8 | 23 | 102 | 83 | +19 | |
| African Games record | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Result | Matches | Wins | Draws | Losses | GF | GA | |
| 2003 | Runners- up | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 3 | |
| 2007 | Runners- up | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 7 | |
 2011 | Fourth place | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 10 | |
| 2015 | 5th | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| 2019 | 7th | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | |
| 2023 | Did not qualify | |||||||
| Total | 5/6 | 18 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 28 | 25 | |
| COSAFA Women's Championship record | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | ||||||||
| 2002 | Champions | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 2 | +34 | |
| Champions | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 2 | +17 | ||
| Champions | |||||||||
| Runners-up | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 3 | +11 | ||
| Champions | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 3 | +9 | ||
| Champions | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 2 | +11 | ||
| 2019 | Champions | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 2 | +25 | |
| Champions | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 3 | +19 | ||
| Fourth place | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 6 | +2 | ||
| Runners-up | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 2 | +7 | ||
| 2023 | Group stage | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 5 | +4 | |
| Total | Winner | 47 | 38 | 4 | 5 | 169 | 30 | +139 | |
The list shown below shows the women's South Africa national soccer team's all−time international record against opposing nations.
| width=10% | Against | width=5% | width=5% | width=5% | width=5% | width=5% | width=5% | width=5% | width=8% | Confederation | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| --> |
The following table shows South Africa's all-time official international record per opponent: