Cape Town - The Africa Women's Cup of Nations (Awcon) in Morocco, will be the springboard for Banyana Banyana's passage to the Fifa Women's World Cup Australia and New Zealand in 2023.
The four teams reaching the semi-final round will earn direct qualification to the 32-team global showpiece in July next year. The 12-nation field for the Morocco tournament is one of the weakest in years. It is a direct result of the disruptive Covid-19 infections, across the continent over the past two years.
Five countries in the top-10 of African women's rankings will not be playing in Morocco. They are (African ranking, and world ranking in brackets) 4 Ghana (57), 5 Ivory Coast (61), 6 Equatorial Guinea (72), 9 Algeria (79), 10 Mali (82). Equatorial Guinea is a former two-time winner (2008, 2012) and Ghana finished runner-up three times (1998, 2002, 2006). Ivory Coast and Mali each have a top-four finish.
Hence, several countries who have made their presence felt at the continental showpiece in the past will be absent from the 2022 edition.
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In Morocco, there will be five countries with top 10 rankings in Africa. They are (African rankings, world ranking in brackets) 1 Nigeria (410, 2 Cameroon (53), 3 South Africa (56), 7 Tunisia (74) and 8 Morocco (78).
Of the remaining seven teams, five have African rankings between 11th (Senegal) and 30th (Uganda). Two teams, Burundi and Togo have no ranking. Four teams - Burkina Faso, Botswana, Burundi and Togo - will be making their Awcon debut.
Against this background, South Africa should reach the last four, if the form goes according to rankings. The 12 teams will be drawn into three groups of four teams each.
South Africa have become Awcon’s 'nearly team' after reaching the final five times. Thrice South Africa were beaten by 11-time winners Nigeria. In the other two finals, South Africa were beaten by Equatorial Guinea, the only other country ever to win the women's title. Two of these finals were played on South African soil, but Banyana failed to capitalise on the home ground advantage.
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This could be the year South Africa break the duck. Several Banyana players have already experienced an African conquest this year, with Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies. They were crowned African champions at the inaugural African Women’s Champions League, a few weeks ago, in hostile Cairo.
Banyana can now take their conquest a step further, and annex the title at the 14th Awcon edition during July. Banyana coach Desiree Ellis believes her team has the fighting spirit and courage to go all the way in Morocco. There are, however, concerns what the squad will work on in the meantime.
“This team has a lot of courage and determination," said Ellis on her return from Algiers where Banyana were held to a 1-all draw in a second-leg qualifier.
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"They have been in this position before and we just needed to keep on playing. We felt that they were not a threat except for the long balls that they kept playing. They also posed a danger at set-piece time.
“After they scored first, we always knew that we would get another chance to score. Once the penalty went in, we were in control of the game and played our game.
"Credit to Algeria for their fighting spirit but I believe the experience that we have brought us to this point.”
The date for the final draw is still to be announced. The teams' seedings will be based on their performance in the 2018 Africa Women Cup of Nations finals tournament and the 2022 tournament's qualification.