The South Africa women's national under-17 soccer team, nicknamed Bantwana, represents South Africa in international under-17 women's soccer. It is controlled by the South African Football Association, the governing body for soccer in South Africa. The team's main objective is to qualify and play at the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup and develop players for the senior national team (Banyana Banyana).
Bantwana hold the African record for most goals in an international match. They scored 28 goals (won 28–0) against Seychelles in the opening match of group B at the 2019 COSAFA U-17 Women's Championship.
History
FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup The team qualified for their maiden FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup at the 2010 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup in Trinidad & Tobago. This feat made the first women's team to qualify for the World Cup. Banyana Banyana would make their World Cup debut nine years later in 2019.
In 2018, they qualified for the 2018 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup in Uruguay making their second appearance at the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup.
African U-17 Women's World Cup qualification In the 2025 qualification, they reached the second round with a 21–2 aggregate win over Gabon. They failed to reach the third round qualifiers after a 5–1 aggregate loss to Nigeria.
COSAFA U-17 Women's Championship The competed in the inaugural tournament in 2019 held in Mauritius. They were runners-up to Uganda in a 2–1 defeat in the final. They set the African goal scoring record (28 goals) in that championship.
They won their maiden COSAFA title at the 2022 edition, defeating Zambia by 4 goals to 3 in the final.
In 2025 the team did not enter the competition citing a tight school schedule as the reason.
Results and fixtures
The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.
Legend
2024
2025
Current squad The following 20 players were selected for the 2024 COSAFA U-17 Women's Championship held in South Africa between 4 December – 13 December 2024:
Top goal scorers Active players in bold, statistics correct as of November 2024. RankPlayerGoals1 Oyisa Marhasi 112 Jessica Wade103Khwezi Khoza54Miche Minnies4Karabo Dhlamini4
Managerial history + All-time Bantwana coaching records Coach Tenure Simphiwe Dludlu – Nthabeleng Modiko – Ntombifuthi Khumalo – present
Competitive record FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup record FIFA U-17 Women's World CupAppearances: 2YearRoundPosition 2008did not qualify 2010Group stage16th3003217 2012did not qualify 2014 2016 2018Group stage12th3012110 2022 did not qualify 2024 2025 2026TBDTotalGroup stage2/96015327
African U-17 Cup of Nations for Women record African U-17 Cup of Nations for WomenAppearances: 6YearRoundPosition2008First round–2202032010Play-off round–63122592012Second round–4121762013Second round–2011462016Second round–2202072018Second round–44001772020The 2020 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.2022Third round–2101132024Second round–2011032025Second round–42022272026To be determinedTotalSecond round6/628155127648
COSAFA U-17 Women's Championship COSAFA U-17 Women's Championship recordYearRound* 2019Runners-up5401395+34 2020 Third Place4202188+10 2022 Champions 42 0 0 23 4 +19 2024 Group Stage 32 0 1 9 3 +6Total1611048920
See also
South Africa women's national football team South Africa women's national under-20 soccer team South Africa women's national under-15 soccer team
References
External links Official website