Banyana Banyana will learn their group opponents for the delayed 2024 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) on Friday November 22 when the draw is conducted.
South Africa are the defending champions after beating hosts Morocco in the final of the 2022 tournament, when they claimed their maiden title, and will be among the top seeded teams.
The tournament, which was to take place this year before being postponed to 2025, will take place in Morocco again with the draw also set to be held in the North African country.
The qualified teams will learn their fate soon
“The draw will determine the fate of the 12 Africa’s top women’s national teams,” Confederation of African Football (CAF) said via a statement regarding the draw set to take place in Sale, Morocco.
“The 13th edition of the TotalEnergies CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations will take place from 5 to 26 July 2025 in Morocco.”
Banyana Banyana, just like the other qualified teams, sealed their ticket last December after a 3-1 aggregate victory over Burkina Faso in the final round of the qualifiers and will be joined by nine-time champions Nigeria, Zambia, who finished third in 2022, and hosts Morocco, runners-ups two years ago.
What have Banyana Banyana been up to lately?
DR Congo, Ghana, Mali, Senegal, Tanzania, Tunisia and Algeria are the other teams that qualified for the biennial tournament.
South Africa will, however, feel confident given that in 2022, they topped a group that had Nigeria, Burundi and Botswana after winning all their three games.
Desiree Ellis’ side have been tuning up for the tournament with a number of high-profile friendly matches, losing 5-0 to Denmark before a 2-1 defeat to England last month, and have two games against Jamaica coming up on November 29 and December 2.
Draw procedures and Their Seeding
According to the regulations, the 12 qualified teams will be seeded into four levels based on their FIFA rankings. This seeding ensures a balanced initial distribution of teams for the tournament.
- Level 1: Morocco (host), Nigeria, South Africa
- Level 2: Zambia, Ghana, Tunisia
- Level 3: Mali, Senegal, Algeria
- Level 4: DR Congo, Tanzania, Botswana
Morocco, as the host nation, will automatically occupy position A1, while defending champions South Africa will take position C1. The third team in Level 1 will be placed in position B1.
Detailed Draw Procedures
The draw will follow a rigorous methodology to ensure balanced and fair groupings. Three separate pots will be used to allocate teams from Levels 2, 3, and 4 into Groups A, B, and C:
- Pot C (Level 4):
- The first ball drawn will go to Group A, position A4.
- The second ball will go to Group B, position B4.
- The third ball will go to Group C, position C4.
- Pot B (Level 3):
- The first ball drawn will go to Group A, position A3.
- The second ball will go to Group B, position B3.
- The third ball will go to Group C, position C3.
- Pot A (Level 2):
- The first ball drawn will go to Group A, position A2.
- The second ball will go to Group B, position B2.
- The third ball will go to Group C, position C2.
This meticulous process ensures an evenly distributed competition, setting the stage for captivating match-ups right from the group phase.
