From political solidarity to fierce football clashes, the Nigeria-South Africa rivalry is heating up on the women’s stage. As the Super Falcons aim for redemption, can they reclaim their crown and silence Banyana Banyana?
While Nigeria’s traditional football rivals have always been illustrious nations like Ghana and Cameroon, South Africa has emerged as a veritable new rival in recent years.
The rivalries with Ghana and Cameroon were forged through a shared colonial history, common borders, and dramatic moments on the pitch that have brought both joy and heartbreak.
In contrast, the geographical distance between Nigeria and South Africa should have prevented a football rivalry, just as we don’t consider Zambia or Zimbabwe as rivals.
The political struggle
However, I recall donating money in school to the freedom movements in South Africa and Namibia as a young primary school pupil in the late 1980s. Nelson Mandela’s release in 1990, his subsequent thank-you visit to Nigeria, and the end of apartheid brought South Africa back into the continental sporting spotlight.
Our first football encounter with South Africa came in the 1994 World Cup qualifiers, where we thrashed them in Lagos but were held to a goalless draw in Johannesburg. I vividly recall Rashidi Yekini’s goal being wrongly disallowed in that encounter.
Fast forward to the political impasse that followed the 1995 execution of writer and activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni Nine by General Sani Abacha, which led to the Super Eagles’ withdrawal from the 1996 Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa. Our absence that year paved the way for South Africa to win their first AFCON title on home soil.
Indeed, we reasserted our dominance by winning our third AFCON title inside the majestic Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg in 2013—a tournament I covered from start to finish.
Last year’s semi-final clash against South Africa in Côte d’Ivoire highlighted the intensifying rivalry between the two nations. These matches are no longer just games—they are battles for supremacy, culturally and otherwise.
Rivalry? What rivalry?
South Africans view Nigerians with envy. Despite having abundant resources, they cannot understand why Nigeria remains a formidable opponent. Every victory over Nigeria is celebrated wildly in South Africa.
In the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, South Africa finally got a breakthrough, defeating our Super Falcons in the group stage en route to their first-ever WAFCON title.
Anyone who followed women’s football saw that coming, especially after Banyana Banyana won the Aisha Buhari Cup in Lagos the year before. It was a disaster waiting to happen.
I remember travelling by night bus to Accra in December 2018 to watch the WAFCON final against South Africa. They had a strong side, but it was difficult to break us down. We beat them on penalties that night. A French woman I interviewed after the game joked, “This tournament should be renamed the Nigeria Women’s Cup, hahaha. The Nigerian women are too strong.”
Unfortunately, we stumbled in 2022, falling to hosts Morocco in the semifinals after two players were sent off.
But the Super Falcons are back, stronger and more determined.
Last year, we secured the Olympic ticket to Paris by defeating South Africa. That was a sign of better things to come. The Falcons understand what it means to be considered no longer dominant, and they are hungry to reclaim their glory.
A rejuvenated team
Our 5-0 demolition of Zambia’s star-studded side sent a clear message: don’t sleep on the Nigerians—we will punish you.
Now is the time to strike back at South Africa. They have become cocky and comfortable. The absence of Thembi Kgatlana has blunted their attacking edge. Their goalless draw with Senegal, followed by a penalty shootout win, shows they are vulnerable.
We have a defence and goalkeeper who have yet to concede in this tournament, and I don’t see that changing in the semifinals against Banyana.
It’s time to put this rivalry to bed and remind everyone where we belong—on top of African women’s football.
May the ancestors be with our girls.