If somebody had told you after the qualifying groups draw that, after three rounds, Nigeria would have been in the penultimate spot on the table and behind teams like Lesotho, Rwanda and today’s rival Benin, you would have probably thought that they knew nothing about football. However, here we are, Lesotho and Rwanda lead the group, Benin and South Africa follow, and the Super Eagles are just one point ahead of last-placed Zimbabwe without a single triumph and with only three goals scored. If that’s not an alarming situation, then nothing is.Senegal win, but Mendy is the man of the matchComparing the squads is pointless, Nigeria is immensely stronger. With players like Lookman, Iheanacho, Chukwueze, Boniface, and Iwobi, they should win this game without a hitch. Then again, they should have also beat Lesotho and Zimbabwe, but they failed. When it comes to tradition, Nigeria is again a firm favourite. They’ve encountered Benin 16 times so far, winning as many as 13 matches and recording just one single loss.As for Nigeria’s injury problems, Victor Osimhen was ruled out even before the South Africa game, and now the only scorer for Nigeria in that match is questionable as well. Namely, Fisayo Dele-Bashiru picked up a knock, and Finidi George said that he’d just have to wait and see. On the other hand, we’ll have to wait and see whether the Nigerian manager will consider including Victor Boniface into the starting lineup, or at least subbing him in, since one of the best Bayer Leverkusen players sat on the bench for the entire South Africa game four days ago.Nigeria drops to fifth place after a draw with Bafana BafanaAs for Benin, even though they beat Rwanda last Thursday, that was their first win after March 2022. The no-win streak went on for 16 games, so we definitely cannot talk about their excellent form. However, the Cheetahs’ advantage could be their manager Gernot Rohr. Namely, the German has led Nigeria for five years (2016-2021) and certainly knows this team’s secrets. Rohr will have all the players at his disposal given that Andréas Hountondji, who had previously been questionable, is back in the team. The victory and good performance against Rwanda could convince the German tactician to use the same lineup as in that match.Benin 🇧🇯 have only beaten Nigeria 🇳🇬 ONCE in an international fixture, can Gernot Rohr lead the Cheetahs to victory against his former team? #Afrosport #2026WCQ #Nigeria #SuperEagles #Benin #Cheetahs pic.twitter.com/so8jHMlvM6— AfroSport (@AfroSportTV) June 10, 2024 All in all, Nigeria needs the victory today more than anything, but Benin’s victory over Rwanda has surely given them a confidence boost. Furthermore, for Benin, pressure is off, or at least it’s on a significantly lower level than in the case of the Super Eagles. Another failure could seriously endanger Nigeria’s qualification campaign. They’ve already missed the 2022 World Cup, and if they fail to qualify this time as well, it will be the first time they’ve missed two World Cups in a row since 1994.
WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS – AFRICASundaySao Tome and Principe – Liberia 0-1 (0-0)/Sesay 90/DR Congo – Togo 1-0 (1-0)/Elia 6/Djibouti – Ethiopia 1-1 (1-1)/Dadzie 29 – Wondimu 31/Mauritania – Senegal 0-1 (0-1)/Diallo 27/Namibia – Tunisia 0-0MondayMon 15:00: (1.75) Equatorial Guinea (3.45) Malawi (5.20)Mon 15:00: (7.25) Somalia (3.70) Botswana (1.55)Mon 18:00: (5.00) Guinea B. (3.50) Egypt (1.75)Mon 18:00: (4.90) Benin (3.40) Nigeria (1.80)Mon 18:00: (4.20) Uganda (3.35) Algeria (1.95)Mon 21:00: (1.25) Ghana (5.70) Central African Republic (13.0)Mon 21:00: (1.55) Burkina Faso (3.70) Sierra Leone (7.25)Mon 21:00: (1.80) Guinea (3.50) Mozambique (4.70)***odds are subject to change***