Banyana receive bye ahead of African Champs

The South African women's soccer team has received a bye in the first round of the ninth edition of the African Women's Championship (AWC).

The tournament will be staged in Namibia next year.

Banyana Banyana received the bye after finishing second in the last tournament, along with reigning champions Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon, who finished third.

South Africa will face the winner of the match between Mozambique and Comoros in the second round of qualifiers. The two-leg fixture is scheduled for May 2014.

The winner of the second round will join seven other African teams in the continental competition, which will be used as a qualifier for the Fifa Women's World Cup.

The top three finishers will represent Africa at the World Cup hosted by Canada in 2015.

In the last edition of the AWC, South Africa lost 4-0 in the final to Equatorial Guinea, while Cameroon claimed bronze by defeating Nigeria 1-0.

(File Photo:Gallo Images)

- Sapa