2026 World Cup qualifiers: South Africa’s qualification in doubt after FIFA sanctions

South Africa’s hopes of reaching the 2026 FIFA World Cup have been thrown into jeopardy after the country’s national team was hit with a severe sanction by football’s world governing body.

The FIFA Disciplinary Committee on Monday confirmed that Bafana Bafana’s 2-1 victory over Lesotho in March has been overturned because South Africa fielded an ineligible player. The match has now been awarded as a 3-0 victory to Lesotho, leaving the once-comfortable Group C leaders with a far tighter qualification race.

Bafana Bafana had been top of the table with 17 points but the ruling has changed the outlook dramatically.

The revised Group C standings now read: Benin 14 points (+4), South Africa 14 points (+3), Nigeria 11 points (+2), Rwanda 11 points (0), Lesotho 9 points (-3) and Zimbabwe 4 points (-6).

FIFA said the South African Football Association (SAFA) breached article 19 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code and article 14 of the FIFA World Cup 2026 Preliminary Competition Regulations by fielding midfielder Teboho Mokoena in the 21 March fixture.

“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,” the statement read.

As part of the punishment, SAFA has also been ordered to pay a fine of CHF 10,000 to FIFA, while Mokoena himself has received a formal warning.

FIFA confirmed that all parties were notified of the decision on Monday and have ten days to request a motivated decision, which if requested would be published on legal.fifa.com.

The forfeiture decision can still be appealed to the FIFA Appeal Committee, but unless overturned it leaves South Africa’s qualification path far more complicated in the final rounds of fixtures.