WAFCON: Bitter rivals South Africa and Nigeria prepare for intense semi-final clash

Two sporting powerhouses meet in box-office fixture in Morocco

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Africa is filled with rivalries - tribal and regional - but none as charged as the one between the continent’s economic power houses.

Nigeria, nine-time WAFCON champions and three-time AFCON winners, are giants of African football. But on the continent, where they’ve dominated for so long, South Africa are starting to become a proper problem.

More so in the women’s game. Banyana Banyana have beaten Nigeria in their last two meetings, including in their opening game of the 2022 WAFCON and the 2021 Aisha Buhari Cup, an invitational tournament. But the South African men’s team have been a more recent thorn in Nigeria’s side, especially as they find themselves in the same 2026 World Cup Qualification group. Only the group winner (currently South Africa) will go through and Nigeria, who are placed fourth and six points off the lead, have been finding ways to get themselves back into contention.

This rivalry isn’t just one forged on the football pitch. There are much deeper, cultural and societal things at play between these two countries.

There is the xenophobia that blights South Africa and sees Nigerian (and other African migrants) subjected to violence. Then there’s more trivial things like the long-running rivalry between the musical genres of Afrobeats from Nigeria and Amapiano from South Africa.

It was Nigeria’s fans who spotted that South Africa had fielded an illegible player in a World Cup qualifier against Lesotho back in March. Teboho Mokoena should have been suspended for an accumulation of yellow cards. Had Lesotho known and lodged a complaint with Fifa, South Africa would have been docked points.

That the South African Football Federation (SAFA) and team management did not know who was under suspended speaks to their own incompetence but it hasn’t stopped Nigeria trying everything to get under South Africa’s skins. Nigeria have also been pushing Zimbabwe and Lesotho, both of whom use South Africa as a home venue, to move to Rwanda instead for the rest of the 2026 World Cup-qualification campaign. That means South Africa will have to travel and won’t have home comforts and might slip up.

On the women’s side, it was Banyana Banyana who won the WAFCON title ahead of holders Nigeria three years ago and the Super Falcons are obviously bitter about it. “They are South Africa. We are Nigeria. And we all know what is at stake. We know what rivalry there is between us. They took the crown from us. We want to do the same,” Justin Madugu, Nigeria’s coach said.

He was met with approval from a large, partisan Nigerian media contingent, who he also congratulated for wearing the team’s jersey and shouting for them from the stands, much to the confusion of the only two South African reporters (of which I am one) who were attending the press conference.

Sidenote: we don’t own any Banyana Banyana kit but we did get a ride in the team’s bus (without the team themselves who took a flight) from Oujda to Casablanca because it was not logistically possible to get on a plane. We repaid the favour by helping load and unload the team kit from the bus.

South Africa head coach Desiree Ellis acknowledged the magnitude of the occasion and likened it to her country’s biggest club derby, or even the El Classico. “I don’t think you need to communicate anything more to motivate our players. It is like a [Kaiser] Chiefs-[Orlando] Pirates derby. We know the rivalry that there is,” she said.

She also played down South Africa’s recent advantage over Nigeria, using it as inspiration and not an indication of what could happen on Tuesday. “Results in the past tell you that it can but it doesn’t mean that it will happen,” Ellis said.

Especially as South Africa face a significant disadvantage in terms of preparation. When the semi-final kicks off, at 5pm, it would have been just 66 hours and 14 minutes after Bambanani Mbane kicked the winning penalty against Senegal in Oujda, 610 kilometeres away from Casablanca. Since then, South Africa have had a gym session, a strategy meeting, a delayed flight and arrival at a hotel with no swimming pool which has disrupted their recovery plans.

Nigeria, who have not had to leave Casablanca at all, have had 94 hours since their quarter-final win over Zambia. In essence, a full day and four hours more. Is fatigue going to affect South Africa? “Tiredness is a mental thing. It’s mind over matter now,” Ellis said.

South Africa also head into the semi-finals with a slew of injuries. Co-captain Amogelang Motau and winger Linda Motlhalo were substituted off in the quarter-final. Striker Ronnell Donnelly also didn’t play because she hurt her foot beforehand. Andile and Karabo Dlamini both also have slight niggles.

Nigeria have none of those concerns, not even the bruised ego they took into the Zambia game. Madugu said after that win that his team felt they “have not been given the kind of respect they deserve,” after having a scan of “social media; they see reports, they hear comments that are made by the opposition.” Zambia had been bullish beforehand in saying they felt they had what it takes to beat Nigeria and the Super Falcons ended up beating them 5-0. South Africa know better than to poke that bear.

What South Africa need to do better

Take their chances.

This has been an issue throughout this tournament for South Africa, who had 11 shots on goal and four on target in their 2-0 over Ghana. They also 10 shots with three on target in their draw against Tanzania and could even have added to their 4-0 win over Mali. The finishing touch was most absent against Senegal where 15 shots with five on target were all left unconverted and forced the match to a penalty shootout. South Africa are at their best when they keep the ball on the ground rather than try to win it in the air, and if they can resist the urge to play the long ball and get numbers upfront, they could put pressure on Nigeria.

What Nigeria need to do better

It’s difficult to find fault with a side who completely outplayed their opposition in the quarterfinals, especially in defence. Nigeria blunted Rachel Kundananji completely and then got numbers upfront and took just under two-thirds of their goal-scoring opportunities.

Nigeria will be aware that South Africa, unlike Zambia, have had seven goalscorers, not just two, and spread responsibility around the field. Nigeria started this tournament with a bang when they beat Tunisia 3-0 but then went into a goalscoring shell against Botswana and Algeria. If anything, they’ll need to be cautious of not doing the same against a plucky South African backline.