Morocco’s Atlas Lionesses have a date with history this coming Saturday. The team will take on South Africa at Rabat’s Moulay Hassan Stadium in the quarterfinals of the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, with a place at the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil awaiting the winner.
There is unfinished business between these two sides. Morocco and South Africa met once before in a CAN final staged on Moroccan soil, and it was Banyana Banyana who walked away with the trophy that day. For a Moroccan side that has grown considerably as a footballing force since then, Saturday’s meeting offers a chance to settle an old score on home turf.
The road to the last eight has been a near-perfect one for the hosts. Morocco opened with a comfortable win over Kenya, ground out a tight 1-0 victory against Algeria, and then played out a goalless draw with Senegal on Monday to close the group stage. Seven points, top spot in the group, and not a single goal conceded along the way: numbers that speak to a defense built around Sakina Ouazraoui and goalkeeper Ghazlane Chebbak, while Meryem Atik and Sanaa Mssoudi have supplied the attacking spark.
South Africa’s path was bumpier. A 2-1 opening defeat to Tanzania was followed by a wild 2-2 draw against Ivory Coast, before Banyana Banyana steadied themselves with a 1-0 win over Burkina Faso to finish second in their group with four points. On paper, that makes them the slight underdogs heading into Rabat. In practice, few teams on the continent carry more big-match pedigree, and Morocco knows exactly how costly it can be to underestimate this opponent.
Home advantage should count for something at Moulay Hassan, where a packed stadium is expected to roar the Lionesses on. Beyond the immediate prize of a World Cup berth, the match is another marker of how far the women’s game has progressed domestically, with Rabat once again hosting a major continental fixture that few would have predicted filling stadiums a decade ago. Whether that support is enough to finally get the better of South Africa, after the heartbreak of a lost final not so long ago, is the question Saturday’s quarterfinal will answer.
