Gay married couple make soccer history in national team’s shock defeat at tournament
South Africa's Gabriela and Robyn Moodaly-Salgado are the first married couple to feature together in the Women's Africa Cup of Nations, and they have several out LGBTQ teammates.
Mark
LGBTQ soccer history has been made at the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) tournament, although the players responsible are unlikely to remember the match with any great fondness.
South Africa’s women’s national soccer team, known as Banyana Banyana, fielded midfielder Robyn Moodaly and versatile defender Gabriela Salgado in Monday’s Group B opener in Casablanca, Morocco.
Having got married to each other last year, the couple became the first to feature together in a match in the history of the continental tournament.
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However, the historic occasion on the field was bittersweet for the 2022 African champions.
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Banyana Banyana suffered a shock 2-1 defeat in their match against Tanzania, who were 65 places lower than their opponents in the FIFA World Rankings before the tournament began.
Rare in international soccer for wives to play on same team
Robyn Moodaly and Gabriela Salgado tied the knot in November 2025, taking each other’s surnames to become the Moodaly-Salgados.
They play their club soccer together at JVW FC, the SAFA Women’s League pro team co-founded by Janine van Wyk, the former national-team captain who has been out as gay since she was a teenager.
Both Moodaly and Salgado have been long-time staples of South Africa’s national setup. Moodaly, who is aged 32, represented her country at the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Olympics, and was part of the WAFCON-winning 2022 squad.
Salgado, who is nearly four years younger than her wife, was first called up by Banyana Banyana in 2017 and was included alongside Moodaly in the squad that reached the last 16 of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. She also played in the last WAFCON tournament two years ago.
Married couples playing together in elite international sports is still very rare. The only other wives known to Outsports as having played soccer on the same team for their countries are former USWNT duo Ali Krieger and Ashlyn Harris, who were married in 2019 and were both in the squad for the SheBelieves Cup a few months later. They were later divorced.
The story of the Moodaly-Salgados is being reported with pride in several South African media outlets. The country is the only one in Africa with marriage equality and one of very few nations on the continent with constitutional protections for LGBTQ people.
Six more out LGBTQ players in South Africa’s WAFCON squad
On the pitch, the match did not go according to South Africa’s plan. Moodaly started but was substituted at halftime, when the score was 1-1.
Salgado was introduced in the 71st minute, but a late goal secured Tanzania all three points.
It’s likely that South Africa will now have to beat both Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso in Group B to make the quarterfinals.
Meanwhile, the Moodaly-Salgados are far from the only out LGBTQ players in the Banyana Banyana squad.
Defender Bambanani Mbane, who scored the team’s equalizer against Tanzania, is married to her wife, Tsholo Makgaleme. Mbane has frequently spoken about how the support of her family fuels her performances on the pitch.
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Bambanani Mbane gave a shout to her wife during African soccer’s WAFCON, at which three more South Africa stars are also publicly out.
Former African Women’s Goalkeeper of the Year Andile Dlamini, the national team’s current no 1, tied the knot with her partner, Lulama Mokuni, in December 2025.
Experienced captain and midfielder Refiloe Jane is married to sports administrator Christa Kgamphe, while striker and former African Women’s Player of the Year Thembi Kgatlana got engaged to Abongile Diana in 2023.
Back-up goalkeeper Kaylin Swart is in a long-term relationship with her partner, Sadie Claire Niekirk, while midfielder Nhlanhla Mthandi is dating girlfriend Monica Mabusa.
The inclusive culture in the team has made Banyana Banyana one of the most progressive in Africa.
Their defeat to Tanzania is a sharp wake-up call, but in a tournament in which Cape Verde is the only other team competing from a nation with protections for LGBTQ people, the Moodaly-Salgados making history will stand the test of time.
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