Banyana Banyana: Women's National Soccer Team Squad, Fixtures and Records

Banyana Banyana is the nickname of the South Africa women's national soccer team, and it is Sesotho for 'the girls'. The side won the Women's Africa Cup of Nations for the first time in 2022 and reached the Women's World Cup round of 16 for the first time in 2023. Desiree Ellis is the head coach, and the coach module shows the current appointment. The squad, fixtures and results modules at the top update after every match, so the latest information is always in one place.

The writing below covers the meaning of the name, the players to know, kick off times across four time zones, the honours with their years, the record holders, the coaching line from 1995 onwards and the rivalries with Nigeria, Ghana, Morocco and Zambia. Readers in Lagos, Accra, Nairobi and Kampala will find the African angle in every section, and South African readers will find the log and the league that feed the national side.

Who Are Banyana Banyana, and What Does the Name Mean?

Banyana Banyana are South Africa's senior women's team, run by SAFA, and the name means 'the girls' in Sesotho. It was modelled on Bafana Bafana, 'the boys', the nickname that grew out of supporters' chants at the men's first match after apartheid, against Cameroon in 1992. The women's name carries the same sense of a crowd claiming a team as its own. The side played its first official match on 30 May 1993, against Eswatini in Johannesburg, and the name has stayed with them through every era since.

In South Africa most supporters simply say Banyana, while readers elsewhere in Africa may search for the full name of the South Africa women's national team, and both lead to the same side. The supporters' culture is borrowed lovingly from the men, with the chants carried across from Bafana match days onto social media timelines. Banyana have built a story of their own over three decades, and in African women's soccer the name now travels further than many South African supporters might expect.

Who Are the Banyana Banyana Players to Watch?

The current Banyana Banyana players, with their clubs, positions and the captain, are listed in the squad module, which changes with every call up. That matters because a national squad shifts between camps, and a list fixed in writing would be out of date within one international window. The names below are ones associated with the modern side, and the module tells you which of them are in the latest group. Thembi Kgatlana, Hildah Magaia, Linda Motlhalo and Refiloe Jane are names worth knowing.

Janine van Wyk set the national caps record and remains the reference point for every player who follows her. For readers in Kenya and Uganda, these names are worth knowing because several Banyana players have built careers abroad, which is the path many Harambee Starlets and Crested Cranes players hope to follow. Checking the squad module before each camp shows how the coach is thinking, since the call ups reveal the selection.

When Do Banyana Banyana Play Next, and What Time Is Kick Off?

The next Banyana Banyana fixture, with its date, venue, competition and kick off time, sits in the fixtures module at the top, and it updates as soon as a match is confirmed. Times are shown in SAST, WAT, EAT and GMT together, because the same game is watched at different hours across the continent. South African Standard Time is two hours ahead of GMT, West Africa Time is one hour ahead and East Africa Time is three hours ahead. A 15:00 kick off in Johannesburg is 13:00 in Accra, 14:00 in Lagos and 16:00 in Nairobi and Kampala.

Where to watch is given in the where to watch line of the fixtures module for each country, since broadcast arrangements change from one tournament to the next. If you are in Nigeria or Ghana and follow Banyana mainly during the big tournaments, the fixtures module is the quickest way to find the hour in your own time zone.

How Do You Read the Banyana Results and Form Guide?

Every finished match appears in the results module with its score, the competition and the venue, and the form guide shows the latest sequence of wins, draws and defeats. The trick is to read the competition beside each result before judging it. A friendly against a European side in a pre tournament camp tells you something different from a WAFCON qualifier away from home, and a run of draws in friendlies can sit comfortably alongside a strong competitive record. Like the Premiership log, the form guide rewards patience, so it is worth looking at goals conceded across competitive games before drawing any conclusion about where the side stands.

What Have Banyana Banyana Won?

Banyana Banyana's biggest honour is the 2022 Women's Africa Cup of Nations, won with a 2 to 1 victory over Morocco in the final. It was the first continental title for a side that had come close many times, with runners up finishes in 1995, 2000, 2008, 2012 and 2018, and third places in 2006 and 2010. The 2018 final was won by Nigeria's Super Falcons, which is part of why the 2022 title meant so much in Soweto and beyond. For African women's soccer, it showed that a new name could be written on the trophy.

On the world stage, Banyana made their Women's World Cup debut in 2019, losing all three group games and scoring once, in a 3 to 1 defeat to Spain. Four years later, at the 2023 tournament, they reached the round of 16 for the first time before a 2 to 0 defeat to the Netherlands. At the Olympics, their best finish is 10th at London 2012, under Joseph Mkhonza, and they returned for the 2016 Games under Vera Pauw. The side's highest FIFA ranking, 45th, came in August 2023, soon after that World Cup run.

Who Holds the Banyana Banyana Records?

Janine van Wyk holds the Banyana Banyana caps record with 185 appearances, and Portia Modise is the record goalscorer with 101 goals. Both figures are the standard every player in the squad is measured against. Van Wyk's total reflects a career of real durability, since consistency over many seasons is what earns caps. A century of international goals is a landmark few players anywhere reach, and Modise's mark is one of the hardest in African women's soccer to reach.

The records module tracks the leading appearance makers and scorers as the totals change, so current players can be followed as they climb the list. When you read it, remember that caps and goals came at different rates in different eras, because the number of matches a year has grown with extra qualifiers and international windows. Comparing a modern total with an older one works best when you look at caps or goals per year rather than the raw figure. Both records, read that way, say as much about longevity as they do about talent.

Who Coaches Banyana Banyana, and How Has the Role Changed?

Desiree Ellis is the Banyana Banyana head coach, and the coach module shows the current appointment. Her era has brought the World Cup debut of 2019, the WAFCON title of 2022 and the round of 16 in 2023. She follows a line that includes Sandile Bali in 1995, Fran Hilton-Smith in 2000, Greg Mashilo from 2002 to 2004 and August Makalakalane from 2006 to 2011, with Joseph Mkhonza at the 2012 Olympics and Vera Pauw at the 2016 Games.

Who Are Banyana Banyana's Biggest Rivals in Africa?

Nigeria's Super Falcons are Banyana's great rivals, because Nigeria hold the most WAFCON titles and stand as the benchmark every African side measures itself against. The 2018 final, won by Nigeria, sharpened the rivalry, and WAFCON fixtures and head to heads are when it draws the most attention. Morocco became a newer rival after the 2022 final, a match that rewarded Banyana's patience and confirmed Morocco as a contender worth respecting. The head to head module shows every completed meeting with each opponent, and it is worth filtering by competition before comparing wins.

Ghana and Zambia are also part of the wider African picture that Banyana play in, and the head to head module shows each completed meeting. For Kenya and Uganda, the Harambee Starlets and Crested Cranes women are on a rising path that Banyana's 2022 title shows is open to African sides. Our national teams hub covers each of these sides, so you can compare records from both directions.

How Do Banyana Banyana Qualify for WAFCON and the Women's World Cup?

Banyana reach the Women's Africa Cup of Nations through CAF qualifying, and the fixtures module shows the current stage. At the finals, teams are drawn into groups, the leading sides on each group log move into the knockout rounds, and the final decides the champions. If you are reading a WAFCON group log, goal difference often separates teams level on points, so a heavy win in an opening game can prove decisive.

The Women's World Cup route runs through CAF as well, and the exact format for each cycle is confirmed by CAF and FIFA. The Olympic route has its own CAF qualifying rounds, which is how Banyana reached the 2012 and 2016 Games. The dates and hosts for the next tournament appear in the fixtures module as soon as CAF and FIFA confirm them.

Where Do Banyana Banyana Players Come From?

Many Banyana players come through South Africa's domestic women's league structure, while a growing group play club soccer abroad. Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies are the best known domestic club, and their CAF Women's Champions League title in 2021 showed that a South African league side could win the continent's biggest club prize. Readers who follow the PSL as the main event can add the women's league log to their weekly reading, because the next Banyana call ups are already playing on it.