But for Nigeria’s Super Falcons, it is the end of the road as they fail to qualify for the World Cup for the first time in their history following a disastrous campaign at the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, where they also failed to reach the semi-finals for the first time.
It will no doubt spark plenty of soul-searching in the West African nation, whose men also failed to qualify for the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
South Africa have been below par at WAFCON themselves as they exited in the quarter-finals, but saved their best performance for last.
The first half was devoid of clear-cut chances for either side, though Nigeria’s Michelle Alozie skewed her shot wide when well placed on the edge of the box.
South Africa moved the ball around nicely but offered little threat going forward and only troubled Super Falcons goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie with a few long-range efforts.
Nigeria started the brighter in the second half and veteran Asisat Oshoala found herself in space on the right-hand side of the box, but her cross was too close to goalkeeper Kaylin Swart, with teammates lurking.
Oshoala then had a chance herself as the ball fell to her on the edge of the six-yard box, but she could not get a good connection on her effort and Swart was able to gather.
It was the kind of chance the Oshoala of a few years ago would have gobbled up, and she was replaced shortly afterwards.
South Africa took the lead in the 61st minute with a lightning-quick break that caught the Super Falcons napping.
Linda Motlhalo’s through-ball for Hildah Magaia was inch-perfect and the latter squared for Kgatlana to fire low past Nnadozie. The goalkeeper managed to get a boot to the shot, but the ball squirmed over the line.
It was a fourth goal of the tournament for Kgatlana and an eighth overall at WAFCON after she also netted four times in 2018.
Nnadozie denied Kgatlana a second with a fine low stop, while at the other end Swart pulled off a superb save to deny Uchenna Kanu’s header.
That proved crucial as, minutes later, Nigeria only half-cleared a corner and Jane’s shot from the edge of the box took a deflection and wrong-footed Nnadozie to make it 2-0.
Nigeria were awarded a penalty on the stroke of 90 minutes when Jane blatantly handled the ball in the box and received a second yellow card.
Christy Ucheibe slotted the penalty with aplomb to give Nigeria hope, but they could not force the equaliser
How the inter-confederation play-offs work
South Africa will join Ghana in the inter-confederation play-offs, which will start in November and December. They have a complicated structure and will conclude in March next year.
There will be six teams in the preliminary phase: the two African sides, two from Asia, one from Oceania and the lower-ranked side from South America.
The sides will be split into three tiers of two teams. Nations from the same confederation cannot be drawn together or face one another.
Teams will play three matches, one each against teams from the other two tiers and one against the side drawn alongside them in their own tier.
They will earn points for wins and draws, with the top two teams in the six-team table advancing to March’s final play-off round.
The pair will join four sides who were given a bye through the preliminary stage: two from North and Central America, one from Europe and the higher-ranked team from South America.
The top three teams there, according to the FIFA Women’s World Rankings, will be seeded and each take on one of the three lower-ranked sides in a one-off fixture for a place at the World Cup.
Venezuela and Ecuador have been confirmed from South America, while Uzbekistan and Chinese Taipei will represent Asia. Papua New Guinea will be the Oceania representative.