Banyana handed a tough draw at the Fifa Women’s World Cup

Banyana Banyana have been handed a tough draw at next year’s Fifa Women’s World Cup, to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand.

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Banyana, who are the Caf Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) champions, have been drawn against Sweden, Argentina and Italy in Group G following the draw which was conducted in Auckland on Saturday.

The South African senior national women’s team will be competing at the global tournament for the second time in their history, having qualified for the first time for the tournament in 2019, with the competition hosted in France.

Sweden are regarded as one of the best women’s football nations, with the Swedish ranked as the second best team in the world according to the latest Fifa women’s football rankings.

While Banyana are still new in the World Cup, Sweden have made eight appearances at the tournament andwere runners-up in 2003.

The South Africans will open their campaign at the competition against the Swedes on 23 July at Wellington Regional Stadium.

In their second game, Banyana will play against Argentina five days later at Forsyth Barr Stadium. Argentina are ranked 29th in the world and they will be making their fourth appearance at the competition. The first time the White and Sky Blues took to the world stage was in 2003.

The last group stage game will see Desiree Ellis charges taking on Italy on 2 August, a nation which will be very familiar to Banyana captain Refiloe Jane, who plays her football for Italian club US Sassoulo in women’s Serie A.

With the tournament having been increased to 32 teams, only the top-two teams from each group will qualify for the knockout stages. In 2019, the four best third-placed sides also progressed to the round of 16.

The tournament is scheduled to kick-off on July 20, 2023 in Auckland, New Zealand before concluding on August, 20 in Sydney, Australia.