Banyana need outside help in bid for WAFCON quarterfinal place

Desiree Ellis has not given up hope of Banyana reaching the WAFCON quarterfinals. Picture: Sydney Mahlangu BackpagePix Banyana Banyana will have to rely on help from elsewhere as they take on Burkina Faso tonight in their final 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations Group B clash at the Moulay Rachid Stadium in Casablanca. Desiree Ellis’ side must beat Burkina Faso to have a chance of making the quarterfinals, but will go out regardless if the Ivory Coast and Tanzania share the spoils in the other Group B encounter.

“All we can do is try to do our job, win the match and score some goals, and everything else is out of our hands. We must do what we can do, the other results are not up to us but if we do that (win our game), we give ourselves a chance,” Banyana head coach Desiree Ellis told Safa.net. “We are still in it and when I look at the group, I think it’s a must-win for all four teams because you cannot ‘if’ and ‘but’, so all we can do is win, score a couple of goals and then wait for the final result in the match between Tanzania and Ivory Coast.” If Ivory Coast beat Tanzania and Banyana win, then Ellis’ side will go through as group runners-up.

If Tanzania win, then Banyana would have to beat Burkina Faso and hope their goal difference ends up better than the Ivorians’ Ivory Coast currently have a goal difference of +3 while Banyana’s is at -1. Still, Banyana can be thankful they have any chance of making it, given that they were 2-0 down to the Ivory Coast heading into the last 20 minutes of their previous Group B match. A stoppage time goal from Hildah Magaia earned a 2-2 draw that kept their hopes alive.

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“We didn’t have a good first half, but what a fighting spirit in the second half and we could have won it in the end,” said Ellis. “The players showed a lot of resilience, a lot of character and that gives us a little bit of hope and momentum going into the last game of the group stages. The way we ended the second half against Ivory Coast is how we should start the game against Burkina Faso.”

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