THE Super Eagles of Nigeria have been placed in the same qualifying group as Benin Republic for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco.
In the draw held today in Johannesburg, South Africa, three-time African champions Nigeria were placed in Group D with Benin Republic, Rwanda and Libya.
Incidentally, Benin Republic, handled by former Super Eagles head coach Gernot Rohr, and Rwanda are also in the same 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying group as Nigeria.
Indeed, Rohr led Benin Republic to cause a major upset last month when they defeated the Super Eagles 2-1 in their World Cup qualifier in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, a result that eventually resulted in the resignation of Finidi George as Nigeria head coach.
The Super Eagles are yet to face Rwanda in the World Cup qualifiers, meaning there are four clashes ahead between the two teams in the coming months.
Although the Super Eagles at 38th in the world are the highest-ranked team in the group by FIFA (Benin Republic 91st, Libya 118th, Rwanda 131st) recent results in the World Cup qualifiers have shown that they are not guaranteed to breeze through this AFCON qualifying campaign.
Also in the draw today, Tunisia, Comoros, Madagascar and Gambia are in Group A, while Morocco, Gabon, Central African Republic and Lesotho are in Group B.
Defending champions Cote d’Ivoire are in Group G with Zambia, Sierra Leone and Chad, with Ghana drawn in Group F alongside Angola, Sudan and Niger Republic.
In all there are 12 qualifying groups of four teams each, with two teams from each group advancing to the AFCON 2025 in Morocco, scheduled for December 2025 to January 2026.
