12 June 2023 – The South African senior women’s team assembled for a preparation and selection camp on Monday afternoon (12 June 2023) in Johannesburg as the countdown to next month’s FIFA Women’s World Cup continues.
The local camp will run until 3 July 2023 before the team departs for New Zealand.
On the first day of camp on Monday, 29 players assembled with the rest of the international-based players expected to join the team in the coming days.
The preparation and selection camp will give coach Desiree Ellis an opportunity to have a look at all the players in the preliminary squad before selecting the final 23-member side that will represent South Africa at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup to be co-hosted in Australia and New Zealand from 20 July to 20 August 2023.
This is Banyana Banyana’s final preparation camp ahead of the highly anticipated tournament. The team kicked off the year with the Turkish Women’s Cup where they were crowned champions after beating Uzbekistan (3-0) and playing a draw (1-1) against Slovenia. They then travelled to Serbia in April where they suffered a defeat against the hosts. The final friendly for Ellis’s charges will be against Costa Rica on 15 July 2023 in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Banyana Banyana is in Group G with Sweden, Argentina and Italy, and they kick off the tournament against Sweden on 23 July 2023 (see schedule below).
23 July
Group G – Sweden v South Africa 17:00 (07:00am RSA time), Wellington Regional Stadium (Wellington/Te Whanganui-a-tara)
28 July
Group G – Argentina v South Africa 12:00 (02:00 am RSA time), Dunedin Stadium (Dunedin/Ōtepoti)
2 August
Group G – South Africa v Italy 19:00 (09:00 am), Wellington Regional Stadium (Wellington/Te Whanganui-a-tara)