It's been long and hard years for our beloved national team after the emotional highs of the 2010 tournament. Instead of rising on FIFA's rankings table with more inspired performances, Bafana Bafana have been proper minnows with their continuous inept showings.

But ever since Hugo Broos took over as coach in May 2021 and got the team singing from his hymn sheet, Bafana progressed appreciably and even landed an AFCON bronze medal in 2023.

There has been growing belief that Broos’s Boys could do even better in this year's AFCON event scheduled for December.

True to form, the team has been all the rage in their qualifying group for the 2026 FIFA World Cup tourney to be hosted jointly by USA, Mexico and Canada.

With Tuesday night’s win against Benin, they have secured a 5 point lead at the top of the standings, with four qualifying games remaining.

Lo and behold, Bafana’s management and backroom staff were widely accused for overlooking one of the rudimentary rules of the competition along the way.

It's to do with the midfielder Teboho Mokoena playing in Friday’s win against Lesotho when he should have sat out, because of the number of yellow cards he received in previous international matches.

However, it has also emerged that CAF officials on duty at the Bafana versus Lesotho game at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Limpopo, as part of their vetting duties, were also supposed to have raised the alarm that Mokoena was not eligible to play.

It’s best to say that such errors are almost unheard of at the highest levels of the game.

How could this happen?

FIFA could throw their rule book at SAFA for the gaffe and even dock points, which could severely dent Bafana’s hopes of playing in next year’s World Cup tournament.

Lesotho has lodged an objection and Nigeria, also in Bafana's group, are waiting with mouths wide-open for points to be docked from the group leader's tally.

What a deflating outcome that would be for South Africans, given all the political woes we are dealing with right now including the high cost of living.

It's just inconceivable, especially since FIFA World Cups are always four-years apart and the likelihood that Broos might no longer be the hatchet man working wonders with the team because the 72-year-old Belgian could call time on his career or greener pastures might be his calling.

Presently, Bafana are firing and are on an amazing 18-match winning streak, their home matches are usually sold out affairs, which means South Africans are invested in the team, and we have a pretty good chance to make next year's World Cup tournament.

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Bafana Bafana are the darlings of the nation presently, but FIFA could kill our World Cup joy