Women's World Cup: South Africa coach sends warning to Super Falcons

South Africa head coach Desiree Ellis has called on her players to quickly recover and prepare for a high-stakes showdown with Nigeria's Super Falcons, with the final opportunity to secure a place at the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup on the line.

The two African powerhouses will meet in a WAFCON 2026 play-in match on Thursday at the Moulay Rachid Stadium in Casablanca.

Neither side managed to reach the semi-finals of the tournament after suffering quarter-final defeats.

Nigeria's campaign came to an abrupt end after Cameroon secured a narrow 1-0 victory over the defending champions, while South Africa lost to Morocco 2-1.

However, both nations remain in contention for World Cup qualification.

For Ellis, the disappointment of missing out on the WAFCON semi-finals must now be put aside.

The veteran coach acknowledged that her team would have preferred to secure qualification through a deeper run in the tournament, but believes the play-in match provides an important second opportunity.

“We’re not out of it. We didn’t want to go down that route, but it’s been thrown at us,” Ellis told ESPN.

The South African coach knows there is little time for her players to dwell on their defeat to Morocco.

Ellis added, “We need to get ready for the next game mentally, get ready for it physically, we need to recover quickly.”