South Africa 0-0 Sierra Leone: the draw Bafana Bafana celebrated by mistake (2011)
South Africa and Sierra Leone finished 0-0 at Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit on Saturday 8 October 2011, and South Africa’s players celebrated on the pitch in the belief that they had reached the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations. They had not, and few sides have been eliminated in stranger circumstances. All three of Niger, South Africa and Sierra Leone ended Group G on nine points, and CAF’s Article 14.1 separated them on points won against each other rather than on goal difference, so Niger travelled to Gabon and Equatorial Guinea instead. Niger lost 3-0 in Cairo and still went through.
What follows is what the players believed, and what the regulations actually said.
Key Facts
- Played on Saturday 8 October 2011 at Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit, the final Group G match of qualifying for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.
- South Africa 0-0 Sierra Leone. In the simultaneous fixture, Egypt beat Niger 3-0 in Cairo.
- Niger, South Africa and Sierra Leone all finished on nine points. Egypt, who began the campaign as reigning African champions, finished bottom on five.
- CAF Article 14.1 ranks tied teams on the points they took from each other. On that count Niger had 6, South Africa 5 and Sierra Leone 5.
- Overall goal difference, the measure South Africa were relying on, sits at Article 14.5, four criteria further down the list.
- CAF announced the tiebreak and the simultaneous kick-offs in a notice published before the final round, not after it.
- Pitso Mosimane, told during the match that Niger were losing, sent on two midfielders and left the striker Lehlohonolo Majoro on the bench. Niger reached the finals for the first time.
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Nelspruit, 8 October 2011: A Draw, a Dance and an Elimination
What South Africa Sierra Leone Actually Needed
Egypt arrived in Group G as reigning African champions and were out of contention with two matches to play. Niger, who had never reached the finals, led the group by a point from South Africa going into the last round, with Sierra Leone level on eight. Whoever won in Nelspruit went through. A draw suited nobody who had read the regulations, and almost nobody in the stadium had.
South Africa had a second problem, three years old. This was the fourth clash between the countries, and South Africa had never beaten Sierra Leone and had never scored against them. They came close enough. The captain Siphiwe Tshabalala shot wide in the 62nd minute and the Sierra Leone goalkeeper Christian Caulker pushed away a late free kick, with Itumeleng Khune tipping over a Sheriff Suma effort in between.
Article 14.1, and the Warning, Published in Advance
The document at the centre of this was never hidden. CAF’s regulations for the Orange Africa Cup of Nations 2012 were published in English on the confederation’s website throughout the campaign. Article 14 lists seven criteria for separating teams level on points. The first, 14.1, is “Greater number of points obtained in the matches between the concerned teams”. Goal difference and goals between those teams follow at 14.2 and 14.3, away goals between them at 14.4. Only at 14.5 does the list reach goal difference across the whole group.
Nor was the rule sprung on anyone. Before the final round, CAF published a notice announcing that every matchday six fixture would kick off simultaneously, and spelled the tiebreak out in one line: the group rankings would come from “the provisions of Article 14”. Applying it to Group G takes about a minute. Egypt finished bottom, so CAF discounted them and counted only the matches between the other three: four apiece.
| Team | Matches counted | Article 14.1 points | Group G position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Niger | 4 | 6 | 1st, qualified |
| South Africa | 4 | 5 | 2nd |
| Sierra Leone | 4 | 5 | 3rd |
Niger’s six came from beating Sierra Leone and then South Africa in Niamey. Moussa Maazou’s goal had beaten Egypt there too, in a result the head-to-head sum leaves out. South Africa took three points off Niger, winning 2-0 in Nelspruit on 4 September 2010, and drew both matches with Sierra Leone.
How South Africa Read It, and How CAF Read It
Read the full table on overall goal difference and South Africa top it comfortably, which is the reading SAFA argued for. They had scored four and conceded two across six matches; Niger had scored six and conceded eight, a goal difference of plus two against minus two.
| Team | Pts | Scored | Conceded | P | W | D | L |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Niger | 9 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| South Africa | 9 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| Sierra Leone | 9 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| Egypt | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
Because Egypt were discounted, the result South Africa spent the afternoon waiting for could not change anything: Niger’s six points were banked before Cairo kicked off. The only result capable of sending South Africa through was a South Africa win in their own stadium, and they spent the closing stages protecting a draw. For more ways to lose a match somewhere other than the pitch, our Football Disasters series is the place to start.
The Lap of Honour
Mosimane has been open about what he did. News arrived from Cairo, mid-match, that Niger were behind, and he changed his approach to protect the draw. The team sheet shows it: South Africa used two substitutes, Reneilwe Letsholonyane for Bernard Parker and Oupa Manyisa for Daylon Claasen, both midfielders. Asked to justify it, Mosimane put the question back to the room, asking whether he would really have left the striker Lehlohonolo Majoro on the bench had he known a goal was needed.
At the whistle the players set off round the pitch, dancing in front of the crowd, while Mosimane embraced his technical staff. The delight in Nelspruit gave way to dismay once it emerged that a best-runner-up place was not available either. The confusion was mutual: the Sierra Leone manager Lars Mattsson congratulated Mosimane on going through, and Mosimane had to correct him.
His own reading was still the wrong one when he spoke. “South Africa deserves to be in next year’s Afcon” was his line to the room, before he asked why Niger would be placed above a side with a better goal difference. The state broadcaster announced qualification, and the SAFA president Kirsten Nematandani appeared on television to congratulate the players. CAF had to post an explanation of its own rule that Saturday night, with both South Africa and Niger claiming the place.
Cairo, and the Debutant Nobody in Nelspruit Was Watching
The other Group G match that evening was Egypt 3-0 Niger in Cairo. It was Mohamed Salah’s second Egypt cap and the occasion of his first goal for his country, five weeks after a debut in Freetown against Sierra Leone in the same group. Salah began scoring for Egypt in the match South Africa spent the afternoon waiting on, on a night nobody in Nelspruit had any reason to notice him.
Niger’s route through was odder than anything South Africa managed. All nine of their points came from home wins, three out of three in Niamey, and they lost every match on their travels. Their manager was Harouna Doula, and supporters celebrated through the night in Agadez and Niamey.
The Bill, and Who Paid It
SAFA appealed the next day. The association confirmed a formal appeal had gone to CAF, arguing that goal difference is “the universally recognised means of separating teams”. That argument had a short life: on 20 October SAFA apologised, withdrew the appeal against rule 14.1 and called the failure to qualify an “inexcusable failure”.
SAFA also defended Mosimane, saying that learning the CAF rules was not his primary role. It did not save him. He stayed in post through five further matches without a win, and his time as South Africa manager ended in June 2012, with Gordon Igesund replacing him.
READ MORE: More matches lost in a committee room rather than on the pitch, in our Football Disasters series →
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About South Africa Sierra Leone (2011)
What happened in South Africa v Sierra Leone on 8 October 2011?
South Africa and Sierra Leone drew 0-0 in Nelspruit in the last Group G match of 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying, and the South Africa players celebrated afterwards believing it had taken them through. It had not. Niger, South Africa and Sierra Leone all finished on nine points, and CAF applied Article 14.1, counting only the matches between those three.
Why did South Africa miss the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations despite the best goal difference?
Because overall goal difference was the fifth tiebreak in the CAF regulations, not the first. Article 14.1 ranks tied teams on points won in the matches between them, and goal difference across the whole group only appears at Article 14.5. South Africa’s four goals scored and two conceded were the better return, but the list never got that far.
What is CAF Article 14.1, the rule that eliminated South Africa in 2011?
Article 14.1 is the first tiebreak in CAF’s 2012 Africa Cup of Nations regulations, ranking tied teams by the points each took from matches against the others involved in the tie. Six criteria follow it, running through goal difference and goals among the tied teams, then away goals between them, then overall goal difference at 14.5, before a drawing of lots at 14.7. The English-language regulations sat on the CAF website throughout the campaign.
Did CAF warn the teams about the tiebreak before the final Group G matches in 2011?
Yes, before the matches. CAF published a notice on 11 September 2011 confirming that every matchday six fixture in each group would kick off at the same time. The tie-break rules that decided the group, Article 14 with its seven criteria from 14.1 to 14.7, had been in the competition regulations on the CAF website throughout the campaign.
Why did Pitso Mosimane settle for a draw against Sierra Leone on 8 October 2011?
Mosimane believed a draw was enough because he understood goal difference to be the tiebreak, and word reached him mid-match that Niger were trailing in Cairo. He admitted afterwards that he had changed his approach on that news and settled for the draw. Asked to justify it, he pointed out that Lehlohonolo Majoro, a striker, had stayed on the bench while a midfielder went on.
Which substitutions did South Africa make against Sierra Leone in Nelspruit in 2011?
South Africa sent on two midfielders, Reneilwe Letsholonyane for Bernard Parker and Oupa Manyisa for Daylon Claasen. Katlego Mphela started as the striker and Lehlohonolo Majoro stayed on the bench, which Mosimane cited afterwards as evidence of what he was playing for.
How did Niger qualify for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations out of Group G?
Niger qualified on Article 14.1, taking six points from the four matches against South Africa and Sierra Leone while both of those sides took five. CAF published the calculation on the evening of 8 October 2011, discounting Egypt as the bottom side. It was the country’s first appearance at the finals.
What was the result of Egypt against Niger in Cairo on 8 October 2011?
Egypt beat Niger 3-0 in Cairo, kicking off at the same time as the Nelspruit match. Egypt were already out and finished bottom of Group G on five points, having entered the campaign as holders. The defeat made no difference to Niger, whose Article 14.1 total came only from matches against South Africa and Sierra Leone.
Did Mohamed Salah play in the Group G match that decided South Africa’s fate in 2011?
Yes, and he scored. The Cairo match against Niger on 8 October 2011 was Mohamed Salah’s second Egypt cap and the occasion of his first international goal. His debut had come five weeks earlier in Freetown against Sierra Leone, so both of his first two caps came against sides South Africa were competing with in Group G.
Did South Africa appeal against CAF’s Group G ruling in October 2011?
Yes, and they withdrew it within a fortnight. SAFA lodged an appeal with CAF on Sunday 9 October, the day after the match, arguing that goal difference is the universally recognised way of separating teams. On 20 October the appeal was withdrawn, SAFA apologised, and the chief executive Robin Petersen denied ever seeking to challenge the results.
Had South Africa ever beaten Sierra Leone before the 2011 match in Nelspruit?
No. The 2011 game was the fourth meeting between the countries, and South Africa had never beaten Sierra Leone and had never scored against them. The previous three were a defeat in Freetown in June 2008, a goalless draw in South Africa later that month, and another in Freetown in October 2010.
South Africa Sierra Leone, 8 October 2011
A goalless draw, a lap of honour, a president on television and a federation appealing against a rule that had sat on its confederation’s website for a month. Niger, who could not win away all campaign, reached their first Africa Cup of Nations, and South Africa’s next one was the 2013 tournament their own apology was already looking forward to hosting. Our On This Day series has more matches settled somewhere other than the pitch.
Sources: CAF, RSSSF, BBC Sport, Independent Online, Mail & Guardian, The Scotsman, TimesLive, AllAfrica, National Football Teams.
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