Eleven minutes into the MTN8 final at Moses Mabhida Stadium on 10 October 2026, Teboho Mokoena put Mamelodi Sundowns ahead against Orlando Pirates. Sundowns won 2-0. Afterwards he told SuperSport TV that his grandfather had died two weeks earlier and that his brother had been stabbed the day before Bafana Bafana played Guinea: “I'm happy that we won but inside I'm not really okay.”
| At a glance | Teboho Mokoena |
|---|---|
| Born | 24 January 1997, Bethlehem (age 29) |
| Club | Mamelodi Sundowns (since January 2022) |
| Contract | Five-year deal signed August 2024, runs to 2029 |
| Position | Central midfielder |
| Bafana Bafana | 58 caps, 10 goals (FotMob) |
| Salary | Not published by club or player |
| Net worth | No reliable figure exists |
A week later he was on a stretcher. In the goalless CAF Champions League first leg against Wiliete in Angola on 18 October, he went off after a heavy challenge, IOL reported.
From SuperSport United to the Brazilians
Mokoena came through the SuperSport United academy and debuted in February 2017. Sundowns signed him in January 2022.
Then the medals came. League titles followed, four in a row from 2021-22 to 2024-25, plus the 2023 African Football League and this month's MTN8, the club's first since 2021, according to Goal. The biggest night was in Rabat on 24 May 2026. His equaliser against AS FAR in first-half added time of the second leg secured a 1-1 draw, a 2-1 aggregate win and Sundowns' second continental crown, EWN reported; Hrimat had put FAR ahead from the spot, and Ronwen Williams later saved a second penalty in the 77th minute to protect the lead on aggregate. It was the moment that turned a very good domestic midfielder into a continental one. Our page on Mamelodi Sundowns' CAF Champions League record has the full story of how they got there.
Europe has knocked. Soccer Laduma reported in September 2024 that his agent, Lance Davids, said Sundowns wanted about five million euros (reported as R96 million) after interest from Bournemouth and Monaco, but he signed a five-year extension on 10 August 2024 that runs to 2029.
He stayed.
Stats this season
FotMob credits him with two goals in five Premiership matches in 2026-27. He has played 405 minutes. His passing sits at 91.5 per cent. He also set up a goal against Al Ahli in the FIFA Intercontinental Cup on 19 September.
Bafana Bafana and the 2026 World Cup
His international story has a strange chapter. FIFA ruled that South Africa fielded him while suspended against Lesotho on 21 March 2025. A 2-0 win became a 3-0 forfeit.
Bafana recovered.
A 3-0 win over Rwanda in Mbombela on 14 October 2025 sealed a first World Cup in 23 years, as the Sowetan put it.
In Atlanta on 18 June 2026 his 83rd-minute penalty earned a 1-1 draw with Czechia. Mexico had beaten Bafana 2-0, and a 1-0 win over South Korea, which he missed through suspension, took them out of Group A for the first time.
Canada ended it at SoFi Stadium on 28 June with a 92nd-minute goal. “We felt we could have done much better, especially after how we lost the game,” Mokoena said. He had started in place of Thalente Mbatha, profiled in our Thalente Mbatha salary and stats page.
Ten goals. That puts him in sight of our list of Bafana Bafana's top goal scorers in history.
Salary and net worth
His salary is not public. Neither Sundowns nor the player has disclosed it, and we found no attributed figure from Soccer Laduma, KickOff or iDiski Times. Ranges of R300,000 to R500,000 a month circulate online. They come from aggregator lists that call themselves estimates.
Net worth is the same story: no credibly sourced estimate exists.
What he has said about money is more revealing than any guess. In an Investec interview published on 2 June 2026 he described being raised by his mother and grandparents, saving what he earned selling lollipops as a boy, overspending once the wages grew and losing money on speculative investments during COVID-19, lessons he now passes on to younger players. “Respect money and it will respect you,” he said. The only hard number is his market value, which FotMob put at 1.7 million euros on 1 September 2026.
Wife and private life
Mokoena has not publicly named a wife or partner. Online reports linking him to individuals have not been confirmed by him, so we leave them out. What he has chosen to share is about family, including the brother he hopes will see justice.
Our view
For readers in Lagos as much as in Pretoria, Mokoena shows that a home-based African midfielder can win the continent's biggest club prize and score at a World Cup without leaving, at a club that also produced Ronwen Williams. Fitness is the worry. His target, he told SuperSport TV, is “plus five trophies, or else it's going to be a failure.”
This article was most recently revised and updated 54 seconds ago
