Nigeria cruise past South Africa in the dying minutes to seal a final berth in the WAFCON.

The Super Falcons on Nigeria on Tuesday afternoon managed to get a late goal to cement a place on the finals of the 2024 Women’s AFCON in Morocco after they beat defending champions South African 2-1 in their quest to reaching the competition’s final, with the aim of clinching the record tenth trophy in history.

Nigeria had a great run in the competition going into the semifinals as they recorded a flawless unbeaten run in their journey to the finals, having won three out of four games to reach the semifinals. They beat the likes of Botswana and Tunisia in the Group B fixtures before settling on a goalless draw against Algeria in the final round of Group B games.

They went on to beat Zambia in an emphatic 5-0 win in the quarterfinals of the competition to seal a place in the semifinals.

South Africa on the other hand had similar run of form in their quest to reaching the semifinals of the tournament as they also won two out of three Group C games, with wins against Ghana and Mali and then settling on a stalemate with Tanzania. They also went on to beat Senegal 4-1 on penalties before reaching the semis.

The semifinal encounter was deemed a very crucial and crunchy one as both sides held a record of similar successes. The game which was held at the Stade Larbi Zaouli in Casablanca saw both sides fighting for a place in the final as they locked horns in a fierce encounter.

The game began in a very tense fashion as the South African Banyana Banyana ladies took the game to the Super Falcons of Nigeria but the West Africans had ways of neutralizing the situation on various occasions.

Both sides kept the game in same fashion until the 45th minute when Nigeria’s Ijamilushi struck the ball unto South Africa’s Mbane’s hand to get a penalty for the Super Falcons. Captain Rasheedat Ajibade converted and got the lead for Nigeria. They took the lead into half time as they prepared for the second half.

The second half began with huge pressure piled on Nigeria as the Banyana Banyana ladies took the game to the Nigerians and their work got paid off with a penalty as Muthlalo converts to pull parity for South Africa.

The game got tensed up as both sides were eager to get the winner. Nigeria turned up in the dying embers of the game to seal a much needed victory over the defending champions as Michelle Alozie snatched the victory in a stunning fashion for the Super Falcons on the 90 plus minutes with four additional minutes of stoppage time.

The game ended 2-1 in favor of the record 9-time winners of the WAFCON as they seek a 10th title in history. They will play in the finals against hosts, Morocco on Saturday, July 26 at 20:00 GMT.