Banyana Banyana Stay Alive in WAFCON After Dramatic Draw

South Africa are still breathing at the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations. Barely.

Two goals down to Ivory Coast in Casablanca and staring at the exit door, Banyana Banyana dragged themselves back from the brink to salvage a 2-2 draw and keep their tournament alive by the thinnest of margins.

The comeback came late. Then it came even later.

Thembi Kgatlana struck in the second half to slice the deficit and jolt South Africa into belief, her finish giving Desiree Ellis’s side a foothold in a game that had been slipping away. From there, Banyana poured forward, chasing not just an equaliser but their entire WAFCON campaign.

The pressure finally told in the dying moments. Hildah Magaia, ice-cold when it mattered most, slammed in the leveller seconds before the final whistle. From despair to defiance in one swing of a boot.

The draw gives South Africa their first point in Group B after two matches, but the table still makes for uneasy reading. They sit three points behind Ivory Coast and remain outside the quarterfinal places, with their fate no longer in their own hands.

Tanzania, also on three points, can seal a spot in the last eight if they beat Burkina Faso in Casablanca in this evening’s other Group B clash. If that happens, Banyana will be left hoping for a final-day twist rather than marching there with any certainty.

South Africa’s last group match comes against Burkina Faso on Tuesday. Win that, and they at least ask a serious question of the group. Fail, and that frantic equaliser in Casablanca will feel like a stay of execution rather than the start of a revival.