World Cup Approaches: South Africa’s National Team Sidesteps FIFA Sanctions

Back in March, the South African national team played against Lesotho, a match that had lingering effects for Bafana Bafana for almost six months. However, it seems this matter is now resolved.

Details: FIFA released a summary of disciplinary actions related to the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. In the report covering 41 matches, the game between Bafana Bafana and Lesotho—where Teboho Mokoena played despite being suspended—was not mentioned.

Sports lawyer Mandla Tshabalala explained that this indicates FIFA will not impose any penalties, including the risk of giving South Africa a technical loss for the match against Lesotho.

Quote: “We can confidently say that Bafana Bafana are in the clear, since their situation would have needed a protest. This means someone had to file a complaint about the participation of an ineligible player, but no such action was taken,” Tshabalala told Sowetan.