25 November 2018 – Sasol-sponsored Banyana Banyana go into the semifinals of the 2018 Women’s AFCON top of Group A and without a loss in the group stages – an achievement they share with Cameroon, Group A winners.
South Africa takes on Mali at the Cape Coast Stadium, while Nigeria will entertain Cameroon in what some have dubbed The Final Before the Final at the Accra Sports Stadium.
The semi-finals will be played on Tuesday, 27 November.
The winners of both matches will meet in the final at the Accra Sports Stadium on Saturday, 1 December.
The battle for third place will take place a day earlier – Friday, 30 November in Cape Coast.
HERE ARE SOME FACTS FROM THE GROUP STAGES:
- Only South Africa and Cameroon did not lose a match
- Both finished top of their groups – B and A respectively
- Both amassed 7 points each, with their runners up reaching 6 points
- A total of 43 goals were scored in 12 matches
- Group B scored the most goals – 26
- Group A managed 17
- Mali, Algeria, Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea did not play any draws
- Hosts Ghana were eliminated in the group stages
- Equatorial Guinea and Algeria failed to register wins, exiting the tournament without any points – they lost all their matches
- Nigeria scored the highest number of goals – 10
- Nigeria also conceded the least number of goals – 1
- Equatorial Guinea scored only 1 goal, and conceded the most – 18
- All the semifinalists won 2 matches each
- Mali have qualified for the semifinals for the first time ever
- South Africa are in their 7thsemi-final in a row since exiting in the group stages in 2004
- Cameroon are in the 9th semi-final in a row
- Nigeria has never failed to qualify for the semi-finals
- Banyana Banyana Head coach Desiree Ellis is the only surviving coach in the tournament from the 2016 edition
- In 2014 she was the assistant coach of Banyana Banyana in the same tournament
- Ellis has also played in this tournament before
- Only South Africa and Algeria had women coaches in the tournament
- Thembi Kgatlana is the leading goal scorer with 4 goals in 3 matches
- Kgatlana is also the only player to have won 3 consecutive Women of the Match awards in the tournament, making it 3 out of 3
- Kaylin Swart, Nothando Vilakazi, Lebohang Ramalepe, Janine van Wyk, Bambanani Mbane, Leandra Smeda, Linda Motlhalo have played every minute in the tournament so far for Banyana Banyana
GROUP A
P W D L GF GA PTS
- Cameroon 3 2 1 0 6 2 7
- Mali 3 2 0 1 6 5 6
- Ghana 3 1 1 1 3 3 4
- Algeria 3 0 0 3 2 7 0
GROUP B:
P W D L GF GA PTS
- South Africa 3 2 1 0 9 2 7
- Nigeria 3 2 0 1 10 1 6
- Zambia 3 1 1 1 6 5 4
- Eq. Guinea 3 0 0 3 1 18 0
Nigeria: scored 10, conceded 1
South Africa: scored 9, conceded 2
Cameroon: scored 6, conceded 2
Zambia: scored 6, conceded 5
Mali: scored 6, conceded 5
Ghana: scored 3, conceded 3
Algeria: scored 2, conceded 7
Eq. Guinea: scored 1, conceded 18
Banyana Banyana’s Women’s AFCON history:
1998 – Group stages
2000 – 2ndPeace
2002 – 4thPlace
2004 – Group Stages
2006 – 3rdPlace
2008 – 2ndPlace
2010 – 3rdPlace
2012 – 2ndPeace
2014 – 4thPeace
2016 – 4thPlace