6 December 2018 – The Sasol-sponsored Banyana Banyana will know the identiy of their opponents in the upcoming 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup when the draw takes place on Saturday, 8 December 2018 in Paris, France.

It will be held at La Seine Musicale.

A total of 24 teams will be taking part in the tournament, which runs from 7 June to 7 July.

The African continent will be represent by South Africa, Cameroon and Nigeria.

Banyana Banyana head coach Desiree Ellis will be present at the draw, and she will be accompanied by the Team Manager Lauren Duncan and Media Officer, Matlhomola Morake.

“I am very excited about this draw, it really hasn’t sunk in that we have qualified for our first ever FIFA World Cup tournament. I am looking forward to the draw, and at this point in time I don’t have anyone to pick to get a favourable draw because at the end of the day all the teams that will go into the hat are good enough – so we can only hope for the best,” said Ellis as she was leaving for Paris.

“It would be great to meet all the coaches of the other teams and share some ideas. And who knows, maybe we can also arrange some friendly matches which will help a great deal with preparations. I just can’t wait to know who will be in our group, as this will assist in mapping our programme going forward.”

The FIFA Women’s World Cup 2019 will be played in nine host cities: Grenoble, Le Havre, Lyon, Montpellier, Nice, Paris, Reims, Rennes and Valenciennes.

Hosts France will open the tournament with a match at the Parc des Princes in Paris and the semi-finals and final will be played in Lyon.

THE 24 QUALIFIED TEAMS:

African zone:   Cameroon, Nigeria, South Africa

Asian zone:  Australia, China PR, Japan, Korea Republic, Thailand

European zone: England, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Scotland, Spain, Sweden

North, Central American and Caribbean zone: Canada, Jamaica, USA

Oceania zone:   New Zealand

South American zone: Argentina, Brazil, Chile