South American team deducted points for illegal naturalization in World Cup qualifiers

10/10/2025 13:17:00 PlaymakerHub

Ecuador's national team was penalized with point deductions in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers due to falsifying documents for a naturalized player.

In 2022, Byron Castillo became the center of controversy before the World Cup as he was considered an improperly naturalized player for Ecuador's national team.

The 1995-born star is originally from Colombia but has lived and played football in Ecuador for over five years (meeting FIFA’s naturalization criteria) and had never represented Colombia internationally. However, the Ecuador Football Federation (FEF) was accused of forging documents and failing to comply with Castillo’s naturalization requirements.

Nhập tịch sai quy định, đội tuyển Nam Mỹ bị trừ điểm tại VL World Cup 719495 — Colombia’s national team lost three points in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers due to document forgery involving player Byron Castillo

Ultimately, FEF was fined, and Ecuador’s team was docked three points in the South American qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup. Nevertheless, they retained the right to participate in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Despite the point deduction in the 2026 qualifiers, Ecuador performed strongly, finishing second overall and securing a spot in next summer's global football event.

The above case is completely different from the current situation faced by Malaysia’s national team. According to FIFA’s investigation report, seven players used forged documents to be recognized as “native Malaysians.” Specifically, they were accused of falsifying their grandparents’ birth certificates to legitimize their origins and thus qualify to play for the national team.

FIFA concludes seven Malaysian naturalized players lack clear origins for naturalization

Notably, these players have no biological ties to Malaysia. Their naturalization based on having Malaysian grandparents was only legalized through fake documents, making this a deliberate and systematic fraud. Without these forged papers, they would not qualify to represent the national team.

This incident prompted FIFA to investigate because it not only violated player eligibility rules but also directly impacted the fairness and outcomes of matches played, notably Malaysia’s 4-0 victory over Vietnam in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers. If the accusations are confirmed, Malaysia’s team could face severe penalties, including match result annulments and bans from international competitions.

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