Julius OkorieGroup C leaders South Africa, may suffer technical knockout in their quest to clinch automatic ticket to the 2026 World Cup if complaints sent to FIFA by Lesotho scales through on merit.
South Africa defeated Benin Republic 2-0 in Abidjan to consolidate at the top of the table with 13 points. However the smooth sail is about to be truncated after the Hugo Broos tutored side fielded ineligible Teboho Mokoena in their 2-0 defeat of Lesotho.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelMokoena reportedly accumulated two yellow cards earlier in the qualifiers, making him ineligible in their Matchday 5 encounter against Lesotho.
He was first booked in Bafana’s opening match against Benin in 2023, and the fourth qualifier against Zimbabwe last year, meaning he should have served an automatic one-match ban, according to FIFA’s rule 63 governing World Cup qualifiers.
Despite being suspended under FIFA World Cup qualifying rules, which prohibit a player from playing after accumulating two yellow cards, Mokoena was named in the starting line-up against Lesotho and was a second half substitute in 82nd minute for Thalente Mbatha.
If found guilty of the violation, South Africa could be docked three points which would significantly impact their chances of securing the automatic qualification spot from Group C.
“If players or team officials receive two cautions in one match (in matches decided by penalties) or in two different matches of the competition, they will be automatically suspended from their team’s subsequent match,” FIFA stated in the rule book.
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Lesotho Football Association (LFA) confirmed that they have indeed sent a query to FIFA over the yellow cards accumulated by Mokoena.
But there’s uncertainty over whether Mokoena’s first yellow card was expunged at last year’s Africa Cup of Nations, but FIFA rules state clearly that bookings are accumulated “from round to round” – which would exclude the AFCON.
“The question is, was a rule broken? If yes, we are fully entitled to protest and get the points. We were made aware of Mokoena’s bookings and we have since sent a formal inquiry to CAF and FIFA,” said LFA secretary-general Mokhosi Mohapi. “We have heard that Nigeria also want to protest and they too are entitled to that because the result (last Friday) prejudices everyone. Suppose it was us who fielded a defaulter and got the points, Bafana would have done the same.”
After six round of matches, South Africa lead Group C with 13 points and are followed by Rwanda (eight points) , Benin (eight points) Nigeria (Seven points), Zimbabwe (six points) while Lesotho are in the rear with four points.
Without the yellow card brouhaha, South Africa stands a good chance of clinching the sole ticket from Group and will thus avoid any play-offs to qualify.
Only one team each will emerge from the nine groups of qualifiers while the four best losers will head into play-offs, a winner takes it all home and away clash that stopped Nigeria from qualifying for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar after she lost to Ghana.
Julius Okorie is Chief Sports and Entertainment Correspondent for Prime Business Africa. He began his journalism career with the Champion Newspaper and Sporting Champion and later moved on to Daily Independent and the Nation Newspapers. Okorie joined Prime Business Africa in 2024 bringing on board 20 years of experience in writing investigative news on Sports and Entertainment. His well researched and highly informative articles on Sports Business and general entertainment are followed by a wide range of audience.
