21 January 2024 – The South African U17 Women’s National Team has been trimmed down to 24 players ahead of their 2024 FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup qualifiers against Ethiopia.
The team began their preparations a week ago with a squad of 35 players who were called in for evaluation and will now switch focus to the two-legged qualifiers.
Bantwana will play their first leg away from home of 4 February 2024 at the Abebe Bekila Stadium in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. They will then return to South Africa for the home leg on 10 February 2024 at the Lucus Moripe Stadium in Pretoria.
Head Coach Nthabeleng “Dunga”Modiko spoke to www.safa.net after trimming the squad.
“The first week of camp has been very good. We demanded a lot from the players very early in the year, and they came to the party. Unfortunately, we must trim the squad to 24 players as per tournament regulations.
“We had to look at many different aspects when selecting the 24 players. It was crucial that we looked at players who firstly have international experience, as these qualifiers are very important for us. We are lucky that we began with most of these players when they were a bit younger, and although we missed out of the last World Cup in 2022, we will be able to build from there and do better this time round,” said Modiko.
“We also had to look at the pairing we needed to execute our game plan and of course, the levels of fitness, which was something we focused a lot on in the first week of camp. This coming week we will be going a lot of tactical work and match simulation ahead of our departure to Ethiopia.
South Africa will have to beat Ethiopia in the two-legged qualifiers to progress to the last round of qualifiers. The 2024 FIFA Women’s World Cup will be hosted by the Dominica Republic, from 16 October – 3 November 2024.
24 player squad:
| Name and Surname | Position | Club |
| Bilquees SALIE | Goalkeeper | SAFA Academy (Gauteng) |
| Mbali NDLOVU | Goalkeeper | SAFA Academy (Gauteng) |
| Casey GORDAN | Goalkeeper | JVW Academy (Gauteng) |
| Bonolo MOKOMA | Defender | JVW Academy (Gauteng) |
| Bonolo PHOSHOKO | Defender | SAFA Academy (Gauteng) |
| Nomfundo MOTAUNG | Defender | Springs Home Sweepers (Gauteng) |
| Sethabile KAMWANDA | Defender | Mamelodi Sundowns Academy (Gauteng) |
| Aphelele MHLONGO | Defender | Dlala Ntombazane (KZN) |
| Masabata MOTHAPO | Defender | Ixias FC (Free State) |
| Samkelo GWAMANDA | Defender | Dlala Ntombazane (KZN) |
| Katleho MOHALE | Defender | JVW Academy (Gauteng) |
| Mpho NKADIMENG | Midfielder | SAFA Academy (Gauteng) |
| Lindelwa MABUZA | Midfielder | Mamelodi Sundowns Academy (Gauteng) |
| Zoe OCTOBER | Midfielder | Cape Town Spurs (Western Cape) |
| Nobahle MDELWA | Midfielder | LaLiga Academy (Spain) |
| Nomaswazi VILAKAZI | Midfielder | University of Pretoria (Gauteng) |
| Julia GONCALVES | Midfielder | JVW Academy (Gauteng) |
| Katleho MALEBANA | Midfielder | Mamelodi Sundowns Academy (Gauteng) |
| Luthando RADEBE | Midfielder | Durban Ladies (KZN) |
| Khutso MOGANO | Forward | SAFA Academy (Gauteng) |
| Tshepi MAKOLE | Forward | Copperbelt Ladies (Limpopo) |
| Adrielle MIBE | Forward | University of Johannesburg (Gauteng) |
| Gugu MABITSELA | Forward | Mamelodi Sundowns Academy (Gauteng) |
| Khwezi KHOZA | Forward | Sunflower WFC (KZN) |