Goals from Thembi Kgatlana and Refiloe Jane secured South Africa a 2-1 victory over long-time rivals Nigeria in their 2027 Women’s World Cup inter-confederation play-in on Thursday, keeping Banyana Banyana’s hopes of reaching next year’s finals in Brazil alive.

For Nigeria’s Super Falcons, however, the defeat marks a historic setback. They will miss out on the Women’s World Cup for the first time in their history after a disappointing Women’s Africa Cup of Nations campaign also saw them fail to reach the semi-finals for the first time.

The back-to-back failures are likely to prompt serious reflection in Nigeria, whose men’s national team also failed to qualify for the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

South Africa had endured an underwhelming WAFCON campaign of their own, exiting in the quarter-finals, but produced their strongest performance when it mattered most.

The opening 45 minutes offered little in the way of clear-cut opportunities for either side. Nigeria came closest when Michelle Alozie found space on the edge of the penalty area, but her effort drifted wide.

South Africa circulated the ball well but struggled to create meaningful chances, with Nigeria goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie facing little danger apart from a handful of long-range attempts.

Nigeria came out with greater intensity after the break, and veteran forward Asisat Oshoala found herself in space on the right side of the penalty area. However, her cross was too close to South Africa goalkeeper Kaylin Swart, despite teammates waiting inside the box.

Oshoala soon had an opportunity of her own when the ball dropped to her near the edge of the six-yard box. The experienced striker failed to make clean contact, allowing Swart to collect comfortably.

It was the type of opportunity Oshoala would have been expected to finish in her prime, and she was substituted shortly afterwards.

South Africa broke the deadlock in the 61st minute with a rapid counter-attack that caught Nigeria’s defence off guard.

Linda Motlhalo released Hildah Magaia with a perfectly weighted through-ball, and Magaia then squared the ball for Thembi Kgatlana to drill a low effort beyond Chiamaka Nnadozie. The goalkeeper got a foot to the shot, but could only watch as the ball crossed the line.

The goal was Kgatlana’s fourth of the tournament and her eighth at the WAFCON, having also scored four times during the 2018 edition.

Nnadozie later produced an excellent low save to prevent Kgatlana from adding another, while Kaylin Swart made an equally impressive stop at the other end to keep out Uchenna Kanu’s header.

That save proved decisive. Moments later, Nigeria failed to properly clear a corner, allowing Refiloe Jane to strike from the edge of the box. Her effort took a deflection, wrong-footing Nnadozie and putting South Africa 2-0 ahead.

Nigeria were handed a lifeline in the final minute of normal time when Jane was penalised for a clear handball inside the area and shown a second yellow card.

Christy Ucheibe confidently converted the resulting penalty to reduce the deficit, but Nigeria could not find a late equaliser as South Africa held on for victory.

South Africa will join Ghana in the inter-confederation play-offs, with the competition scheduled to begin in November and December before concluding in March next year.

The complicated qualification format will feature six teams in the preliminary stage: two representatives from Africa, two from Asia, one from Oceania and the lower-ranked South American side.

The six nations will be divided into three tiers, with two teams in each. Teams from the same confederation cannot be drawn against each other or meet during the play-offs.

Each team will play three matches — one against a side from each of the other two tiers and another against the team drawn alongside them in their own tier.

Teams will collect points for victories and draws, with the two highest-ranked sides in the six-team standings progressing to the final play-off round in March.

They will then join four teams that received byes through the preliminary stage: two from North and Central America, one from Europe and the higher-ranked South American representative.

In the final round, the three highest-ranked teams according to the FIFA Women’s World Rankings will be seeded. Each seeded side will face one of the three lower-ranked teams in a single-match play-off, with the winners securing a place at the Women’s World Cup.

Venezuela and Ecuador have already been confirmed as South America’s representatives, while Uzbekistan and Chinese Taipei will represent Asia. Papua New Guinea will complete the line-up as Oceania’s representative.