Banyana Banyana's first official match was held on 30 May 1993 against
Eswatini, which they won 14–0. Future Women's AFCON winning coach
Desiree Ellis played in that game and scored three of the goals Their first international match outside of Africa was against
China. They played two matches which they lost 8–0 and 13–0 with the latter being the heaviest defeat in their history. The team's first victory over a nation outside of Africa was in 2000, where they beat
Scotland by 2–0. This was at the Cyrus Women's Cup. South Africa's biggest win came in a COSAFA Women's Championship match in
Gqeberha on 31 July 2019, when they beat the
Comoros 17–0. Captain
Refiloe Jane scored 4 of the goals.
Olympic Games They qualified for
Olympic football for the first time in
2012, with coach
Joseph Mkhonza. Their second Olympic participation was at
2016's Rio Olympics, under coach
Vera Pauw.
Women's Africa Cup of Nations Banyana appeared in 14
CAF Women's Championships (Now known as Women's AFCON) and were runners up on five occasions (1995, 2000, 2008, 2012 and 2018) and third at two events (2006 and 2010), before eventually winning their first
Women's Africa Cup of Nations in
2022, beating
Morocco 2–1 in the final.
FIFA Women's World Cup Coached by Desiree Ellis, they qualified for their first
FIFA Women's World Cup in
2019, in Group B with
Germany,
Spain and
China. However, they lost all matches, and their only goal was against Spain when they went to a 1–0 lead only to lose 3–1. South Africa qualified for the FIFA Women's World Cup again in
2023, also coached by Desiree Ellis. During the group stages they lost 2–1 to
Sweden after leading 1–0, drew 2–2 against
Argentina after leading 2–0, but finally defeated
Italy 3–2 and advanced to the Round of 16 for the very first time. They eventually lost 2–0 to the
Netherlands. Following the team's performance, Desiree Ellis would win the 2023 award for CAF Women's Coach of the Year. The top goal scorers at world cups are
Thembi Kgatlana with 3,
Hildah Magaia with 2, while
Linda Motlhalo also scored one. South Africa's other goal was an own goal by Italy in 2023.
COSAFA Women's Championship South Africa competed in all eleven
COSAFA Women's Championships – a tournament featuring nations from the Southern African region – since its inception in 2002. They have won seven titles (in 2002, 2006, 2008, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020), finished second twice (in 2011 and
2022) and only failed to win a medal twice, when they finished fourth in 2021 and exited in the group stages
2023. In later years, because of South Africa's success and increased participation in bigger world events, management started sending newcomers to COSAFA tournaments, to broaden their talent pool. This contributed to a decline in Banyana Banyana's dominance at this event. ==Team image==