Cape Town - South Africa’s Banyana Banyana will breathe a little bit easier at the 2023 Women’s World Cup than at the 2019 showpiece, where their three group opponents were all in the top 15 Fifa-ranked nations.
This time, at the 2023 event, South Africa’s opponents are all in the top 29 on the Fifa rankings. South Africa, world-ranked at 54, were drawn in Group G, and their opponents will be Sweden (2), Italy (14) and Argentina (29).
In 2019, when South Africa were at 69, their group opponents included two top-six ranked countries, Germany and Spain, while China was at 15. South Africa managed one miserly goal and conceded eight. The 2019 highlight was scoring first against Spain in the 28th minute. They held the lead until the 69th minute, when Spain were awarded two penalties in quick succession before running out eventual 3-1 winners.
This time, instead of two top-six ranked opponents, the two best teams are in the top 14 and the third further out at 29. Many Banyana fans may think it to be a “Group of Death” considering Sweden are No 2 in the world. The axis of women’s football is firmly entrenched in Europe, which have 12 countries in the world’s top 20 ranked nations.
Still, the South Africans look dead in the water since they have not defeated a top 50-ranked nation in the past two years, apart from fellow Africans, Nigeria, who are 45 on the world rankings.
This year, apart from African opposition, South Africa have come up against Brazil (9), Australia (13) and the Netherlands (8). They were hammered by each of these three countries. After four matches, the goal aggregate was 18-2 (5-1, 6-0, 3-0, 4-1). This was a rank poor return against European countries, and two of the matches were played on home soil.
Against this background, the Sasol-sponsored South African team will realistically be looking to win one match at the World Cup, and that would be considered a historical feat. Progressing beyond the group phase would be an unrealistic expectation.
SA coach Desiree Ellis attended the draw for the Women’s World Cup 2023 in New Zealand yesterday. New Zealand and Australia are co-hosting the 2023 showpiece in July next year, when for the first time 32 nations will be competing. It will be the first time the event will be co-hosted, and previously only 24 teams participated.
“We have played against Sweden before, but we have not played Italy and Argentina. It could have been a tougher one, so we are happy with it.
“When it comes to Sweden, we have played against the Netherlands, and they are similar. And with regards to Argentina, we have played against Brazil, and they are similar. Italy are from the same continent as the Netherlands, but maybe they are different types of teams.”
South Africa last played Sweden in 2019 in a friendly in Cape Town, where the match ended 0-0.