FIFA WWC: Intriguing draws as Nigeria, Morocco and South Africa face their colonizers.

Football’s penchant for throwing up intriguing draws strained the descriptive power of a single adjective. Imagine Rasihidi Yekini playing against 3SC at Obefemi Awolowo Stadium in the colour of Abiola Babes, Frank Lampard scoring for Manchester City against Chelsea, and  Cristiano Ronaldo against Manchester United at Old Trafford in the colour of Real Madrid.

But few if any could be as fascinating as the draws of the last 16 of the ongoing 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

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three African countries that qualified for the knockout stage, Nigeria, South Africa, and Morocco, are playing against their former colonial masters.

It’s the Super Falcons of Nigeria against former colonial master England on Monday at 8.30 am in Brisbane.   

Morocco the only debutant to make it through the group phase in 2023 will play former colonial master France. Morocco have already handsomely exceeded expectations. Beating the French will be a step too far for the Atlas Lionesses.

South Africa will play former colonial master Netherlands.

The South Africans took second in Group G ahead of Italy and Argentina, nations that are both considerably higher than Banyana Banyana in the FIFA world rankings.

South Africa are in the round of 16 for the first time in their history. The Dutch are the clear favorites for this match. They have the experience and talent. While South Africa will be a hard team to beat and their physical play can be a factor, we believe the Europeans will take this one.