South Africa, the leader of the Group C in the 2026 FIFA World Cup Africa qualifier, has the potential to lose three points in the group’s automatic position after defeating a 2-0 defeat to Lesotho last Friday.
The news is good news for Nigeria, who failed to score the highest points in a 1-1 draw against Zimbabwe on Tuesday night, March 25.
The player in question is midfielder Teboho Mokoena amassed two yellow cards in the series before her final game against Lesotho.
Mokoena, who played for Mamelodi Sundown, booked for the first time in a qualifying series in November 2023 in a 2-1 win over the Republic of Benin. He was told in the 54th minute of the game.
The midfielder was also booked in the 52nd minute of his 3-1 victory over Zimbabwe on June 2024.
He was then appointed in the starting lineup in his final game against Lesotho, 82 minutes before he was replaced by Thalente Mbatha.
According to the FIFA World Cup Qualification Rules, after accumulating two yellow cards, players are not eligible to participate in subsequent matches.
“If a player or team official in a game (by a free throw) or two different games receives two warnings in a game, they will automatically pause it from the team’s subsequent games,” FIFA said in a law book.
However, if not submitted at the prescribed time, FIFA may ignore protests from other countries in the group.
South Africa plays Benin Republic in Abidjan and is currently ranked top with 10 points. Benin Republic ranked second, followed by Rwanda with seven points, while Nigeria ranked fourth with six points after five matches.
