Desiree Ellis has named a South Africa squad for the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco (July 26-Aug. 16) that is dominated by domestically based players, according to the squad announcement. Only four current overseas-based players made the list, down from eight in the title-winning group of 2022. The squad follows the international retirements of Noko Matlou and Jermaine Seoposenwe last year; Matlou retired before the run to the semi-finals of WAFCON 2025 and Seoposenwe retired after that tournament.
The selection highlights the differing dynamics between the men’s and women’s programmes: South Africa’s men have long benefited from a domestically concentrated group, while the women’s side faces structural limits to those same advantages, the announcement noted. The semi-professional HollywoodBets Super League kicked off in May this year, two months later than expected, and the league still contains only a handful of professional clubs.
The squad announcement pointed to mixed recent results as evidence of both volatility and potential. Banyana Banyana lost 5-0 to Japan and then beat the same opponent 1-0 weeks later. The source described the gap between those performances as showing how quickly this group can improve if given opportunities to sharpen skills in more conducive environments against opponents from well-resourced clubs.
Mamelodi Sundowns supply 11 of the 26 players in Ellis’ WAFCON squad; the club has been cited in player interviews as one that pays women’s footballers well and allows them to focus on the game full time. The youngest overseas-based player in the squad is 27-year-old midfielder Bongeka Gamede of FC Nordsjælland. The announcement identified locally based youngsters who could benefit most from WAFCON exposure, including 18-year-old Zoe October of the University of the Western Cape and a 22-year-old Sundowns trio of Ronnel Donnelly, Nthabiseng Majiya and Asanda Hadebe.
The source framed WAFCON as a major opportunity for those local players to demonstrate dependability in a high-pressure environment and to increase their appeal to overseas suitors. The named goalkeepers in the squad are Kaylin Swart (JVW FC, 31), Andile Dlamini (Mamelodi Sundowns FC, 33) and Kebotseng Moletsane (University of Fort Hare FC, 31).
