South Africa are in danger of losing three points in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying race after it emerged that they fielded an ineligible Teboho Mokoena in their 2-0 win over Lesotho on Friday.
Bafana Bafana are currently on top of African qualifying Group C with 10 points from five matches, and a three-point deduction would immensely benefit the Super Eagles of Nigeria, who are fourth with six points.
Mokoena played in Polokwane against their landlocked neighbours on Friday despite having received two yellow cards from previous matches, which made him ineligible for the Lesotho clash.
The Mamelodi Sundowns midfielder was first cautioned in South Africa’s 2-1 home win over Benin Republic in November 2023 and subsequently in the 3-1 win over Zimbabwe in June 2024.
Mokoena should have sat out Friday’s match in Polokwane according to FIFA rules, but he played 82 minutes of the encounter.
FIFA’s law on player eligibility in the qualifying series says: “If players or team officials receive two cautions in one match or in two different matches of the competition, they will be automatically suspended from their team’s subsequent match.”
There is, however, a time limit for protests that can lead to a points deduction.
“Protests regarding the eligibility of players selected for matches in the preliminary competition shall be submitted in writing to the FIFA Match Commissioner within two hours of the match in question and followed up with a full written report, including a copy of the original protest, to be submitted to the FIFA Disciplinary Committee in accordance with the applicable provisions of the FIFA Disciplinary Code and by email to [email protected] within 24 hours of the end of the match and shall be dealt with by the FIFA Disciplinary Committee, otherwise they will be disregarded,” FIFA says.
It is unclear if either Lesotho or other teams in South Africa’s group, including Nigeria, have filed a protest with FIFA.
If there is indeed a protest and it is successful, Lesotho would be awarded three points, which would take them to eight points and top of the table.
In that scenario, South Africa would lose three points and drop to fourth. Nigeria would go from fourth to fifth but within two points of top spot, not taking into account Tuesday’s fixtures.
While the Super Eagles are home to Zimbabwe on Tuesday, South Africa will battle Benin Republic, currently in second place, in Cote d’Ivoire (Benin’s temporary ‘home’) and Lesotho are guests of Rwanda.
All the games are scheduled to kick off at 5pm Nigerian time.
