AFCON 2025
South Africa head coach Desiree Ellis has urged her players to recover quickly and prepare both mentally and physically ahead of their crucial 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations play-in clash against Nigeria’s Super Falcons.
Banyana Banyana’s hopes of winning yet another continental title ended on Saturday after they suffered a 2-1 defeat to hosts Morocco in the quarter-finals.
Nigeria also exited the tournament at the same stage, losing 1-0 to Cameroon in a closely fought encounter at the Larbi Zaouli Stadium in Casablanca on Sunday night.
The two former African champions will now meet in a high-stakes play-in fixture at the Moulay Rachid Stadium in Casablanca on Thursday, with a place in the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup qualification pathway at stake.
The winner will advance to the inter-confederation play-offs, where they will join nine other teams competing for three places at the World Cup in Brazil.
The inter-confederation play-offs are scheduled to take place in November and December 2026.
For Ellis, the immediate priority is ensuring her players recover from their quarter-final disappointment and are ready for another demanding encounter against Nigeria.
“We’re not out of it. We didn’t want to go down that route, but it’s been thrown at us,” Ellis was quoted by ESPN.
“We need to get ready for the next game mentally, get ready for it physically, we need to recover quickly.”
The fixture gives another chapter in the long-running rivalry between South Africa and Nigeria, with both sides now having little room for error.
