Has Gernot Rohr turned Benin into a rival for Nigeria?

The Super Eagles of Nigeria were drawn against Benin, Rwanda, and Lybia in Group D of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers on Thursday, Soccernet.ng reports.

Nigeria are the biggest team in the group, as they sit 38th on the FIFA rankings, followed by Benin, who sit on the 91st position 53 places below. Lybia are ranked 118th, while Rwanda are ranked 131st in the world.

Ordinarily, judging by the rankings, Nigeria should beat all comers in that group comfortably. However, in recent years, the Super Eagles have shown that they can lose to any team that organize themselves well.

Just last month, the Super Eagles had one of their worst-ever performances under coach Finidi George. After drawing their first two games of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers against lowly Lesotho and Zimbabwe, Nigeria had a chance to bounce back with South Africa and Benin. In the first game against South Africa, they played a 1-1 draw in Uyo.

The result was quite understandable because of South Africa’s uptrend in football in the past year, albeit the Super Eagles could have been better.

However, there was belief that the next game against Benin would be a stroll in the park, especially as the game was played in Benin.

Unfortunately, the game took an alternative turn, with Benin defeating Nigeria 2-1, their first-ever victory over the Super Eagles. And the coach that masterminded the win was Gernot Rohr, the Franco-German tactician who led Nigeria from 2016 to 2021. Rohr led Nigeria to the World Cup and two podium finished at the AFCON, before getting the sack just weeks before the 2021 AFCON. Aside from the three points, that result was a big statement, in fact it was the perfect way for Rohr to get back at his former employers.

Will Benin Become Another South Africa?

Now, after the draw on Thursday, Benin coach Rohr was quite confident about his team’s chances of qualifying from the group.

Of course, this would have not been an issue if Benin had not beaten Nigeria when both teams met the last time- obviously, no coach would predict a loss for his side.

But now, Super Eagles fans have a cause to fear because Benin now know that they can make Nigeria bleed, and that would give them more confidence heading into the tie.

Benin are neighbours, but they have nothing close to the quality that Nigeria have currently. But if the Super Eagles fail to beat them when they meet again, it could eventually snowball into a big rivalry between the two countries.

For example, South Africa were never a match for Nigeria in the early 2000s. However, since they picked a big draw against them in an AFCON qualifier in 2014, Nigeria have only beaten them twice in their last seven meetings.

Finidi George is no longer the Super Eagoes coach, but the Nigeria Football Federation are yet to name his replacement. Still, one thing is clear, the next time Nigeria play, they have to make a big statement with the result to show that they can still bite. Also, they must defeat Benin when they meet again. If not, coaches like Rohr who coach minors like Benin will have increased confidence to play them and possibly take points off them.