27 August 2022 – Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis has announced the team to face Brazil in two friendly internationals to be played in South Africa in the coming days.

Ellis turned to the players who won the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations title last month and they will test themselves against the Copa América Femenina winners in the first match at Orlando Stadium on Friday 2 September 2022 (kick off is at 6pm). The two sides will then face off in the second encounter three days later at a venue to be confirmed.

This match is part of the SASOL-sponsored side’s preparations for the Women’s World Cup to be played in Australia and New Zealand next year.

“The preparations [for the World Cup] have started very well. We are very grateful to the South African Football Association (SAFA) and SASOL for getting us such quality opposition. You always want to test yourself against better opposition. We could not have asked for a better team,” the Banyana Banyana coach told said on Saturday after announcing her squad.

“There is a rich history between South Africa and Brazil. We played against them before in Rio and Bafana Bafana have played against them before.”  

Brazil won an eighth Copa América Femenina after they beat hosts Colombia 1-0 in July, while the SASOL-sponsored Banyana Banyana clinched African women’s football’s biggest prize when they beat Morocco 2-1 last month.

Both sides have qualified for the Women’s World Cup next year. The squad is assembling for camp on 28 August 2022 at the Holiday Inn, Johannesburg (Sunnyside Park Hotel).