An administrative oversight has placed Bafana Bafana's 2026 World Cup dream in jeopardy. This is a tale that sounds all too familiar for South African soccer lovers.
The South African Football Association (Safa) has been blasé in its reaction to a Fifa investigation relating to Bafana Bafana fielding an ineligible player.
Safa's reaction has been "it's okay if we're docked three points, we'll still be top of the standings in Group C". But the team won't be, if found guilty.
They would be docked three log points, and the 2-0 win earned in the game in question, replaced with an automatic 3-0 defeat - a five-goal, goal-difference swing. That is catastrophic.
Bafana played Teboho Mokoena during a 2026 World Cup qualifier against Lesotho. The match took place in March 2025 and Bafana Bafana secured a comfortable 2-0 victory.
During that World Cup qualifying clash with neighbouring Lesotho a few months ago, midfield maestro Mokoena was supposed to sit out due to yellow card accumulation.
He received a yellow card in November 2023, against Benin. His second caution came in June 2024, versus Zimbabwe.
Fifa rules for their tournaments state that a player who accumulates two yellow cards over two different...
