Banyana to take on Nigeria in grueling World Cup qualifier playoffs

Banyana Banyana will have another shot at the Women’s FIFA World Cup qualification when they face Nigeria Thursday night.

Banyana, who looked out of sorts, lost their opportunity for automatic qualification to the quadrennial tournament when they lost 2-1 to Morocco in the quarter-finals of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon).

The last four teams in the Wafcon attain automatic qualification, while the four that lose in the quarterfinals proceed to a grueling playoff route to the World Cup in Brazil, beginning with continental clashes between the four quarterfinals losers.

Ghana and Ivory Coast, who also bit the dust in the Wafcon quarters, will be the first to battle for the two spots on Thursday evening, before Banyana take on the daunting task of having to overcome record 10-time Wafcon winners, Nigeria, in the later encounter.

Two winners of the continental playoffs will proceed to the six-team preliminary round of the FIFA Women’s World Cup Intercontinental Playoff Tournament that will include opponents from Asia, Oceania and Conmebol football confederations.

The two highest-ranked of the six will get a bye to the final playoff, while the four lowest-ranked teams will take each other for two other spots in the final playoff.

The two winners of the preliminary phase, including the two that got byes, will then join four other teams from the UEFA, Concacaf and the Conmebol for four spots to book their ticket Brazil in 2027.