South Africa’s dream of returning to the FIFA World Cup has suffered a devastating setback after the world football governing body stripped Bafana Bafana of a crucial qualifying victory for fielding an ineligible player.
The FIFA Governing Body announced on Monday, September 29, 2025, that the 2-0 win over Lesotho in March has been overturned and awarded as a 3-0 victory to Lesotho.
The decision of FIFA knocks South Africa off the top of their qualifying group, propelling Benin into first place and handing Nigeria a major lifeline with just two rounds of matches left.
According to its official statement, “The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has sanctioned the South African Football Association (SAFA) for having fielded an ineligible player, Teboho Mokoena, in the South Africa v. Lesotho match played on 21 March, 2025 in the FIFA World Cup 2026 preliminary competition, thereby breaching article 19 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code and article 14 of the FIFA World Cup 2026 Preliminary Competition Regulations. Consequently, the FIFA Disciplinary Committee has declared the match in question to have been forfeited by the representative team of South Africa by a score of 3-0.”
With this forfeiture, SAFA was fined CHF 10,000, while Mokoena himself was warned. The association has ten days to request a motivated decision and may still appeal.
The embarrassment is compounded by the fact that Patrice Motsepe, South Africa’s top football administrator, is not only a FIFA Vice President, but also the President of CAF. Motsepe also owns Mamelodi Sundowns, Mokoena’s club side.
For South Africa to keep their hopes alive, she must defeat Zimbabwe on October 10 and Rwanda on October 14. Meanwhile, Benin faces Rwanda before a crunch tie against Nigeria, while the Super Eagles will also clashes with Lesotho.
Only the group winner qualifies automatically for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The runner-up will head into the tough African playoffs.
With this twist, the battle for the ticket has become even more unpredictable, and Nigeria’s World Cup dream suddenly looks brighter.
