Mokoena slip-up ends in Bafana Bafana World Cup setback

The South African Football Association (Safa) and Bafana Bafana could see the danger of being docked points by Fifa bearing down on them for months. All they could do was wait. 

Now, the reckless oversight of fielding a suspended Teboho Mokoena in a 2026 World Cup qualifier has resulted in potentially grave consequences. 

In a statement on Monday, 29 September, Fifa said Bafana Bafana had retrospectively forfeited their 2-0 win over Lesotho in March 2025, as well as the three points and two goals attained in that fixture. The new result from that clash will now be 3-0 in favour of Lesotho.

“The Fifa Disciplinary Committee has sanctioned the South African Football Association for having fielded an ineligible player, Teboho Mokoena, in the South Africa vs Lesotho match played on 21 March 2025 in the World Cup 2026 preliminary competition,” Fifa said.

“Consequently, the 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. Safa has also been ordered to pay a fine of 10,000 Swiss francs [R216,500] to Fifa. Teboho Mokoena has been issued with a warning,” the global governing body said.

The root cause

Bafana played Mokoena during a 2026 World Cup qualifier against Lesotho earlier this year, where they secured a comfortable 2-0 victory. 

During that World Cup qualifying clash with neighbouring Lesotho, midfield maestro Mokoena was supposed to sit out due to an accumulation of yellow cards. 

He received a yellow card in November 2023, against Benin. His second caution came in June 2024, versus Zimbabwe. 

Fifa rules for its tournaments state that a player who accumulates two yellow cards over two matches is automatically suspended for the next match. Safa and Bafana Bafana missed this technicality and fielded Mokoena, a key figure in the Hugo Broos-coached team.

Every action has a reaction

As a consequence, Bafana Bafana will drop to second spot in Group C. Broos’s troops had collected 17 points from their eight matches, but will now be level on 14 points with Benin. However, the West African nation will rise from second to first in the mini-league by virtue of a marginally superior goal difference.

Not only do the South Africans lose three points, but their goal difference will be slashed to just +3, from +8. This is because, in addition to suffering the 3-0 technical defeat to Lesotho, the two goals scored in that March match are also expunged. 

Safa has 10 days to appeal against the decision, although this would probably be a fruitless endeavour because the association is guilty as charged. 

A Safa statement in response to the decision said:

“As Safa, we are deeply disappointed with this unprecedented outcome, noting that it was delivered by a single-member panel without reasons and without affording the association an opportunity to present legal arguments.

“The association confirms that we have requested written reasons for the judgment and intend to lodge a formal appeal with the Fifa Appeals Committee within the prescribed 10-day period under Fifa’s disciplinary rules.

“Despite the outcome, the Association emphasises its continued commitment to supporting Bafana Bafana in their qualification campaign. 

“The players and the technical team have worked extremely hard to reach this stage, and we remain focused on ensuring they secure maximum points in the matches ahead.

“We apologise to the nation for this administrative oversight and will reflect on the steps to take at the conclusion of our qualifying campaign. Finally, we call on all South Africans to rally behind the team during this final and crucial stage of the qualifiers.” 

Amateur error

Speaking to journalists a week ago, Safa chief executive Lydia Monyepao played down the significance of the error, which has been attributed to Bafana Bafana team manager Vincent Tseka.

The Safa CEO said they were “not really worried” and were banking on Bafana Bafana obtaining maximum points in their final two matches. 

Of course, it’s not that simple. Bafana Bafana are no longer in control of their own destiny. In addition to needing to beat Zimbabwe and Rwanda in the final qualifying round in October, the South Africans must now hope that Benin drop points against Rwanda and Nigeria.

The Nigerians are also back to life in these qualifiers. The Fifa sanction brings the third-placed Super Eagles to within three points of Benin and South Africa. 

Maximum points for the Nigerians in their final two qualifiers, paired with slip-ups from South Africa and Benin, would see the Super Eagles surge to the summit of Group C. 

Only the top-ranked teams in each of the nine African qualifying groups secure direct passage to the 2026 showpiece in the US, Mexico and Canada. Bafana Bafana last played at a World Cup in 2010.

The South Africans play Zimbabwe on 10 October, before facing Rwanda four days later. DM