Banyana Banyana Keep WAFCON Hopes Alive with Dramatic Draw

South Africa were staring at the exit door. Two goals down, time almost gone, and a Women’s Africa Cup of Nations campaign in Morocco threatening to unravel in Group B.

They refused to let it.

Banyana Banyana hauled themselves back from 2–0 behind to snatch a 2–2 draw with Ivory Coast in Casablanca, a comeback powered by second-half strikes from Thembi Kgatlana and Hildah Magaia. Magaia’s equaliser arrived seconds before the final whistle, a last breath of resistance that keeps South Africa in the tournament – if only just.

Ivory Coast had looked in control, their three points from the opening game giving them a platform and their two-goal cushion tightening the grip. South Africa, still pointless before kick-off, were drifting towards the brink.

Then Kgatlana struck. The forward dragged Banyana back into the contest, her goal changing the temperature of the night and injecting belief into a side that had been chasing shadows.

From there, the game tilted. South Africa pushed higher, chased harder, and forced Ivory Coast onto the back foot. The clock kept racing, the tension grew, and the margins shrank.

The pressure finally told. Magaia, so often decisive on big days, delivered again with an equaliser right at the death, turning what looked like a fatal blow into a lifeline.

The draw gives Banyana their first point of the tournament after two matches. It is not enough to put them in control of their own fate. They trail Ivory Coast by three points in Group B and now must watch the evening’s other fixture in Casablanca with more than passing interest.

Tanzania, also on three points, will secure a quarterfinal place if they beat Burkina Faso later tonight. That result would tighten the noose around South Africa’s hopes and leave the defending champions needing both a win and favours elsewhere.

What Banyana can still control is their final group match, also in Casablanca, against Burkina Faso on Tuesday. The equation is harsh but simple: win, and then wait.

Their tournament hangs by a thread. But after the way they fought back against Ivory Coast, it is a thread they are not ready to let go of.