Stakeholders in Group C of the 2026 World Cup African qualifying series heaved a sigh of relief yesterday after waiting for over six months for the world football governing body, FIFA, to sanction South Africa for fielding an ineligible player, Teboho Mokoena, in a game against Lesotho.
The world body, in its verdict, deducted three points and three goals from South Africa’s tally for breaching the rules. The Bafana Bafana fielded Mokoena in their game against Lesotho on March 21, 2025, when the midfielder was expected to observe a one-game ban after copping two yellow cards in previous games.
FIFA, yesterday, ruled that the South Africans breached Article 19 of its Disciplinary Code (FDC) and Article 14 of the FIFA World Cup 2026 Preliminary Competition Regulations.
It declared the match in question to have been forfeited by the representative team of South Africa by a score of 3-0. FIFA also fined the South African Football Association (SAFA) CHF 10, 000, while it warned Mokoena to always play by the rules.
In the notification to South Africa and the parties in Group C, including Nigeria, Benin Republic, Lesotho and Zimbabwe, FIFA said that in accordance with the relevant provisions of the FDC, South Africa “has 10 days in which to request a motivated decision, which, if requested, would subsequently be published on legal.fifa.com.
“The forfeiture decision remains subject to a potential appeal before the FIFA Appeal Committee.” FIFA’s decision means that South Africa, which was leading Group C with 17 points, now has 14 points and are placed second behind Benin Republic, which also have 14 points, but leads the group on superior goals difference.
Nigeria and Rwanda are third and fourth on 11 points each, while Lesotho and Zimbabwe follow with nine and four points respectively. With two matches to go, South Africa may still pick the Group C ticket to the World Cup if they win their last two games against Zimbabwe and Rwanda, just as the Benin Republic will qualify for their first World Cup if they beat Rwanda and Nigeria. In these scenarios, both Benin Republic and South Africa will end on 20 points, meaning that goal difference would decide the ticket.
Nigeria’s chance of making the 2026 Mundial rests on South Africa and the Benin Republic dropping points in the two games, while Nigeria beat Lesotho and the Benin Republic in their last games.The African qualifying series resumes on October 6 with Nigeria travelling to South Africa to meet Lesotho.
