With qualification for the 2026 Fifa World Cup no longer in Bafana Bafana’s hands, the blunder of fielding an ineligible Teboho Mokoena in the World Cup qualifier against Lesotho has come back to haunt the financially strapped association.
If Bafana fail to qualify for next year’s World Cup in the last match against Rwanda on Tuesday, the cost to the coffers could be around a whopping R200-million.
On Tuesday, Bafana will wrap up their Group C campaign against Rwanda in a do-or-die affair aware that should Benin, who lead the group by two points, beat Nigeria, SA’s hopes of a World Cup appearance will disappear into thin air.
Though Fifa has not released the breakdown of the prize money and appearance fees for the tournament, it has confirmed that the total prize pool will double from the $440-million (about R7.7-billion) of 2022 in Qatar to $896-million (about R15-billion) in 2026.
Based on figures for the 2022 World Cup, qualification comes with a guaranteed $9-million (about R160-million) for the group stage and a further $1,5-million (R26-million) in participation bonus, coming up to R186-million. With the total prize money now doubled, participation fees for next year’s tournament will be significantly higher, in the region of R200-million.
Qualification for Bafana now depends on the results of other Group C teams after they drew 0-0 with Zimbabwe on Friday.
Bafana are now on the verge of bombing out since, nearly two weeks ago, Fifa docked them three points for fielding the ineligible Mokoena.
Mokoena was sitting on two yellow cards and was, therefore, suspended, yet inexplicably made it onto the Polo-kwane pitch against the Mountain Kingdom team in March.
Bafana claimed a 2-0 win and were in the driving seat and on the brink of booking their tickets to the World Cup to be co-hosted by the US, Mexico and Canada.
But Fifa intervened by deducting three points from the South Africans, which were awarded to Lesotho, as well as a default scoreline of a 3-0 victory in the process. This sent Bafana into a tailspin, from being in control of Group C for most of the qualifiers to praying for favours from their opponents.
The blame has been put squarely on the door of team manager Vincent Tseka, who was supposed to record the players’ yellow cards.
Missing out on the World Cup would be a massive blow to the association, whose financial tribulations have been well-documented over the past few years.
In the latter stage of the qualifiers, Broos’ lads have not been as convincing, and whether they can beat Rwanda, who nailed Bafana 2-0 in the first round, remains to be seen. In their last two matches, SA drew 1-1 against Nigeria in Bloemfontein and 0-0 against Zimbabwe two days ago.
Meanwhile, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) has released the permutations for Group C qualifications ahead of Tuesday’s last matches.
According to CAF, Benin, South Africa, and Nigeria are all still in contention to finish number one and scoop the World Cup automatic qualification.
Benin will qualify for the World Cup if they beat Nigeria or if they draw, as long as South Africa fail to claim a win against Rwanda.
South Africa will book their World Cup ticket if they defeat Rwanda and Benin lose to Nigeria.
Nigeria can still qualify if they beat Benin by a three-goal or greater margin, as long as South Africa fail to win against Rwanda. In that case, the Super Eagles will overtake both Bafana and Benin on goal difference.
SA still have hopes, but the sad reality is that it is no longer in their hands.
