Zimbabwe: Hammer Blow for Bafana Bafana

30 September 2025
The Herald (Harare)

Johannesburg. — Bafana Bafana have slipped into second place in their FIFA World Cup qualification group after FIFA decided to sanction them for fielding Teboho Mokoena while suspended.

Yesterday, FIFA announced their ruling on the for having fielded an "ineligible player" in Mokoena in their match against Lesotho on March 21 this year.

FIFA said SAFA breached "article 19 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code (FDC) and article 14 of the FIFA World Cup 202 Preliminary Competition Regulations", resulting in a points deduction which has seen Hugo Broos' men slide into second place behind Benin.

SAFA have 10 days to appeal the decision.

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But, Bafana Bafana are unlikely to win even if they appeal as this looks like a straight case in which they played their cards wrong and will have to deal with the consequences.

Bafana Bafana now have the same number of points (14) as Benin but they have fallen into second place because they have an inferior goal difference.

Bafana now need to win both their games against Zimbabwe and Rwanda, and hope Benin will drop points in their final qualifiers against Rwanda or Nigeria.

In case Benin match Bafana's points in the final two qualifiers, Hugo Broos' side need to make up the one goal gap in their goal difference, which is the first tie breaker in FIFA qualifiers.

This is unlike in CAF competitions where head-to-head counts first. - Sports Reporter/IDiski

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