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On Sunday, July 23rd Banyana Banyana will officially enter just their second-ever World Cup. They will be up against the Swedish team that has never missed a World Cup so far and just like always enters the tournament with the ambitions to reach the knockout stages. Here we give you all Banyana Banyana team news and our predicted lineups too.
The game is scheduled for Sunday, July 23rd and will be played in Wellington, New Zealand at the Wellington Regional Stadium. The kick-off time is 06:00 am GMT. Now, let’s delve straight and look at all Banyana Banyana team news ahead of the match.
South Africa predicted lineup: Could Seoposenwe be the secret weapon for Banyana Banyana?
The South Africans will hope for a better showing than during their first World Cup, they lost all of their 3 group matches back in 2019. Banyana Banyana have some dangerous players and one thing always guaranteed when they play is togetherness.
The main concerns for South Africa are in defence, they conceded 3 or more goals in 4 of their last 5 friendlies. It seems Mbane and Gbamede will be trusted as a pair in the heart of the back 4. Both of them had been struggling lately though.
Further upfield Banyana Banyana have much better players. Sassuolo’s playmaker Jane will be pulling the strings in midfield. On the left flank, Molthalo will be a constant threat. She will be high on confidence too as not that long ago her stoppage time goal gave Glasgow City the SWPL title.
It seems coach Desiree Ellis is considering a surprised starter as leader of the attack. Youngster Jermaine Seoposenwe had an impressive season with Juarez in Mexico and she’s the likely preferred option up front.
Banyana Banyana don’t have any serious injury issues and the atmosphere in the camp is positive.
South Africa Predicted Lineups (4-2-3-1):
Dlamini – Ramalepe, Mbane, Gamede, Dhlamini – Cesane, Jane – Biyana, Magaia- Molthalo-Seoposenwe
Sweden predicted lineup: Can somebody stop Fridolina Rolfö?
Sweden are 3rd in the latest FIFA world rankings and they have reached the semifinals of the World Cup on 4 separate occasions, including during the last World Cup in 2019 in France.
Sweden’s preparation for this tournament wasn’t ideal though with the Scandinavians able to win just 1 of their last 5 matches (D2 L2). They continue to score plenty of goals though, mainly thanks to the hard to contain Fridolina Rolfo. The Barcelona forward has been in sensational form all season and she comes into this match high on confidence too after scoring the crucial goal during the recent UEFA Champions League final.
Sweden’s 38-year-old captain Caroline Seger is about to play in her 5th World Cup. We don’t expect her to be starting many games though and Seger is more likely to be coming off the bench past the hour mark in most matches.
Here is how we think Sweden will lineup in this opening game.
Sweden Predicted Lineups (4-3-3):
Falk – Bjorn, Sembrant, Eriksson, Andersson – Bennison, Asllani, Angeldahl – Jakobsson, Rolfo, Blackstenius
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