Benin coach Gernot Rohr has named his squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Bafana Bafana that will set the ball in motion for the next tournament in Canada/USA/Mexico.
Bafana will host Benin on November 18 at Moses Mabhida Stadium.
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The two countries are in Group C of the qualifiers with Lesotho, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Zimbabwe.
With the World Cup expanded, the winners of each of the nine groups will automatically qualify for the global showcase while the four best runners-up will go into a play-off to determine which country proceeds to the inter-continental play-offs.
Bafana have only ever been successful qualifiers twice (1998 and 2002) and then participated at the 2010 finals by virtue of being hosts.
Of note in the Benin squad is the exclusion of the country's two most capped players Stephane Sessegnon and Khaled Adenon along with Jordan Adeoti.
Sessegnon (39) played for Paris Saint-Germain, Sunderland, and West Bromwich Albion in his younger years and featured for Benin as recent as September in the AFCON qualifiers but is not attached to any club now just like Adenon.
As expected, Benin have named South Africa based goalkeeper Marcel Souke Dandjinou who plays for JDR Stars in the Motsepe Foundation Championship along with 17-year-old Prince Ricardo Dossou.
Another teenager in the squad – dominated by players based in Europe – is defender Abdoul Rachid Moumini (19).
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Dandjinou told KickOff.com last week that they are aiming for a good start.
Les Guepards will also play Lesotho at the same venue in Durban three days after playing Bafana.
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