South Africa’s hopes of returning to the FIFA World Cup have taken a heavy blow after the world football’s governing body stripped the team of a qualifying victory for fielding an ineligible player.

FIFA announced on Monday, September 29, that the 2-0 win over Lesotho in March has been overturned and awarded as a 3-0 victory to Lesotho.

The ruling pushes South Africa off the top of their group, leaving Benin in first place and handing Nigeria fresh hope with just two rounds of qualifiers left.

In its statement, FIFA said: “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 (FDC) 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.”

FIFA also confirmed that SAFA has been fined CHF 10,000, while Mokoena has received a warning.

The governing body added that SAFA has ten days to request a motivated decision, which could then be appealed.

The administrative error is particularly embarrassing as Patrice Motsepe, South Africa’s top football official, is both a FIFA vice president and president of the Confederation of African Football. Motsepe also owns Mamelodi Sundowns, Mokoena’s club side.

South Africa must now win against Zimbabwe on October 10 and Rwanda on October 14 to keep their qualifying hopes alive.

Benin faces Rwanda before travelling to Nigeria, while the Super Eagles will also meet Lesotho.

Only the group winner will qualify automatically for the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, while the runner-up heads to the African playoffs.

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