SOUTH AFRICA have qualified for the 2026 World Cup despite having to forfeit a match.
A 3-0 win over Rwanda booked South Africa‘s place in the World Cup Finals.
They are now set to make their first appearance in the tournament since hosting it in 2010.
But they had to do it the hard way after being forced to forfeit a match only last month.
They beat Lesotho 2-0 in March but fielded an ineligible player – Teboho Mokoena – who was suspended after picking up too many yellow cards.
Fifa‘s disciplinary committee ruled the result be overturned and switched to a 3-0 win for Lesotho, in line with competition rules.
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South Africa had been top of their group, three points clear of Benin and a further three in front of Nigeria, with two games left to play.
And with one match remaining they needed Benin to drop points, which they did in a 4-0 defeat to Nigeria.
The group winners qualify but only the best four runners-up play off in November for the right to compete in the final inter-continental play-offs in March.
Benin have missed out on the play-offs following the loss, with Nigeria also not one of the four best runners-up.
South Africa will feature at their first World Cup for 16 years, alongside Egypt, Senegal, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Ivory Coast, Ghana and Cape Verde, who qualify for the first time in their history.
While Gabon, Cameroon, Burkina Faso and the Democratic Republic of the Congo will fight it out in the play-offs.
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