South Africa stun Italy with late winner to reach World Cup last 16

Thembi Kgatlana scored a last-gasp winner to give South Africa their first Women’s World Cup win in Wellington on Wednesday. The defeat of Italy put them into the last 16 at the expense of their opponents. The striker struck two minutes into stoppage time, sending her team to Sydney to face the Netherlands on Sunday.

Italy had appeared to salvage the draw they needed to progress when Arianna Caruso scored from a corner in the 74th minute, but were left to rue what could have been after a series of late missed chances.

Milena Bertolini’s side had opened the scoring when Karabo Dhlamini tripped Chiara Beccari just inside the area and Caruso converted the penalty with a confident shot into the bottom-left corner.

South Africa equalised through a remarkable own goal from Benedetta Orsi, who did not check where her goalkeeper, Francesca Durante, was before making a backpass.

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South Africa went ahead for the first time in the 67th minute when Kgatlana’s neat inside pass found Hildah Magaia free behind the defensive line and the forward swept the ball into the net. Caruso equalised seven minutes later from a corner when the ball caught her hip in a goalmouth scramble and cannoned into the bottom-right corner.

It looked as though Italy might hang on for the draw in a frantic finale, but Magaia’s pass found Kgatlana in the area and the striker smashed the ball in to secure second place in the group behind Sweden.

“Over the last three weeks, I’ve lost three family members. I could have went home, but I chose to stay with my girls,” said Kgatlana. “Because that’s how much it means.” The Racing Louisville forward suffered a torn achilles in 2022, an injury that kept her sidelined for some 10 months and nearly cost her a trip to her second World Cup. “I came back from a very, brutal injury to be here, to play for the country, to represent every single girl that wanted to be here, to make history with the girls for South Africa.

“Today we just told ourselves, we have to fight. We were the underdogs and I think it worked perfectly for us. When you play that underdog, they come out running for you and we knew that, in terms of pace, they weren’t like us and it’s something that we could utilise for the victory.”

The South Africa coach Desiree Ellis, who was a founding member of the women’s side in 1993, hailed her players. “They fought like warriors,” she said. “They fought like the heroines that we know they are. They fought to be historically remembered and they’ve made history not just getting our first win, but going to the round of 16 and that is amazing.”