Clickbait headline suggests FIFA banned South Africa, other countries from 2026 World Cup

Claim: A news outlet, Legit, claims FIFA has banned South Africa and two other countries from the World Cup for political reasons.

Verdict: Misleading. FIFA bans referenced by the news outlet Legit were not recently sanctioned, including those of South Africa (1961, 1976) and Yugoslavia (1992). Only Russia is currently facing a FIFA-sanctioned ban. The headline is only clickbait.

Full Text

Forty-eight countries would compete at the 2026 World Cup in three North American countries: the United States, Canada, and Mexico, between June 11, 2026, and July 19, 2026.    

Six spots remain to be filled; four of which would be taken by European teams based on the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) playoffs, and national teams from other confederations would take the other two.

A Facebook user, Legit.ng, claims that the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) has banned South Africa and two other countries from the World Cup due to political reasons.

“FIFA bans South Africa and 2 other countries from the World Cup for Political Reasons amid controversy,” The Facebook handler wrote.

The outlet further shared a link to a news story detailing Russia, South Africa, and Yugoslavia as countries that FIFA has banned from the World Cup.  

As of Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025, the post has garnered 1,100 likes, 295 comments, and 28 shares.

Many other Facebook users sentimentally expressed that the alleged ban on South Africa would not change the reality that Nigeria did not qualify.

“Even if you give Nigeria an automatic ticket, they [would not] still qualify,” David Williams expressed.

“If they like, let them ban all African countries, but Nigeria would still not qualify,” Paco Alcacer commented.

“Which political reason made South Africa to be banned?” Olusegun Bola Omotayo queried.

To forestall false information from going viral, DUBAWA decided to verify the claim.

Verification

DUBAWA noticed that the headline written by Legit grossly misrepresents the details in its news article, as the outlet only mentioned past FIFA bans imposed on the countries mentioned. 

We discovered that the news article shared by the Facebook claimant only reported when South Africa was suspended in 1961 due to the Apartheid policy. The article also referenced when FIFA banned South Africa again in 1976, but mentioned that it was readmitted in 1992. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) also reported this. 

South Africa was only recently sanctioned for fielding an ineligible player, Teboho Mokoena, in the 2026 World Cup preliminary round. The FIFA Disciplinary Committee annulled the match’s outcome and deducted three points from South Africa. 

FIFA has also announced that South Africa has secured a return to the FIFA World Cup and will consequently participate in the tournament in 2026.

The claimant also mentioned that Yugoslavia was banned in the early 1990s due to United Nations sanctions amidst the Yugoslav Wars.  While that is accurate, Yugoslavia broke up in 2003 into the federated union of Serbia and Montenegro. In addition to Serbia and Montenegro, four republics were recognised as independent states, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, North Macedonia, and Slovenia.

The Guardian and Sporting News report that Russia remains banned from competing in World Cup competitions because it invaded Ukraine in 2022. 

Conclusion

FIFA did not recently ban South Africa or the other countries, contrary to the headline captioned by Legit. The news outlet only mentioned in its news article when FIFA banned and later lifted its sanctions in those countries in the past. Only Russia remains under the ban. The headline is clickbait and misleading.