Lesotho Football Association (LeFA) secretary general Mokhosi Mohapi confirmed a formal enquiry with FIFA and CAF over Bafana Bafana's fielding of the seemingly ineligible Teboho Mokoena, but was it too late?
It's been a compelling and chaotic week of international football across Africa, with the World Cup qualifying campaign hotting up, headlined by South Africa fielding an ineligible player against Lesotho.
Nigeria went from reviving their 2026 World Cup qualification hopes to undoing a lot of the hard work with their draw against Zimbabwe.
Algeria, Egypt and Morocco all moved closer to World Cup qualification with home success on Tuesday but South Africa face being docked points after fielding an ineligible player.
The race for the 2026 World Cup has begun in earnest. Here's how it's looking around the globe.
We're halfway through a pulsating international break for Africa's national sides, as the continent's World Cup hopefuls look to give themselves a boost on the road to USA-Mexico-Canada 2026.
Éric Sékou Chelle's tenure as Nigeria coach began with a 2-0 World Cup qualifying win vs. Rwanda, the Super Eagles making a promising start on the road to redemption.
It's the first internationals of the year! There's lots happening as World Cup qualifying ramps up and European teams face off in the Nations League.
After three months of travelling the length and breadth of Nigeria, watching domestic league matches, and assessing players, coach Eric Sekou Chelle will take charge of his first game, against Rwanda, on Friday.
This week, the Africa World Cup qualifying campaign group stages will pass the halfway point, with teams starting to learn whether they'll be able to start making plans for Canada-Mexico-USA next June.
Nigeria striker Victor Osimhen says the Super Eagles need to correct the mistakes they made during the opening phase of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, if they are to have any hope of returning to contention for a place.
The first international break of 2025 sees a resumption of Africa's FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign.
Captain Ahmed Musa has returned to the Nigeria squad for the first time since February 2024 after coach Eric Chelle named an enlarged 39-man provisional squad for this month's 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
In a historic move, Nigeria have named former Mali coach Éric Sékou Chelle as the new manager of the men's senior national team.
| Group A | GP | W | D | L | GD | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Egypt | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | +12 | 16 |
| Burkina Faso | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | +6 | 11 |
| Sierra Leone | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 8 |
| Ethiopia | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 6 |
| Guinea-Bissau | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | -2 | 6 |
| Djibouti | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | -16 | 1 |
| Group B | GP | W | D | L | GD | P |
| Congo DR | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | +5 | 13 |
| Senegal | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | +7 | 12 |
| Sudan | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | +6 | 12 |
| Togo | 6 | 0 | 4 | 2 | -3 | 4 |
| South Sudan | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | -8 | 3 |
| Mauritania | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | -7 | 2 |
| Group C | GP | W | D | L | GD | P |
| South Africa | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | +5 | 13 |
| Rwanda | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 8 |
| Benin | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | -1 | 8 |
| Nigeria | 6 | 1 | 4 | 1 | +1 | 7 |
| Lesotho | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | -1 | 6 |
| Zimbabwe | 6 | 0 | 4 | 2 | -4 | 4 |
| Group D | GP | W | D | L | GD | P |
| Cape Verde Islands | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | +2 | 13 |
| Cameroon | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | +8 | 12 |
| Libya | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | -1 | 8 |
| Angola | 6 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| Mauritius | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -4 | 5 |
| Eswatini | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | -5 | 2 |
| Group E | GP | W | D | L | GD | P |
| Morocco | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | +12 | 15 |
| Niger | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | +2 | 6 |
| Tanzania | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | -2 | 6 |
| Zambia | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | -1 | 3 |
| Congo | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | -11 | 0 |
| Eritrea | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Group F | GP | W | D | L | GD | P |
| Ivory Coast | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | +14 | 16 |
| Gabon | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | +6 | 15 |
| Burundi | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | +6 | 10 |
| Kenya | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | +3 | 6 |
| Gambia | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | -1 | 4 |
| Seychelles | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | -28 | 0 |
| Group G | GP | W | D | L | GD | P |
| Algeria | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | +10 | 15 |
| Mozambique | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | -1 | 12 |
| Botswana | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | +1 | 9 |
| Uganda | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | -1 | 9 |
| Guinea | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | -1 | 7 |
| Somalia | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | -8 | 1 |
| Group H | GP | W | D | L | GD | P |
| Tunisia | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | +9 | 16 |
| Namibia | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | +6 | 12 |
| Liberia | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | +3 | 10 |
| Equatorial Guinea | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | -4 | 7 |
| Malawi | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | -2 | 6 |
| Sao Tome and Principe | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | -12 | 0 |
| Group I | GP | W | D | L | GD | P |
| Ghana | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | +10 | 15 |
| Comoros | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | +2 | 12 |
| Madagascar | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | +3 | 10 |
| Mali | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | +4 | 9 |
| Central African Republic | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -5 | 5 |
| Chad | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | -14 | 0 |
