Benin national football team

Benin hosted its first official international match on 8 November 1959, a 1–0 loss to Nigeria. The match was played while the country was still a French dependency, prior to its independence on 1 August 1960.

Benin qualified for the 2004 Africa Cup of Nations, their first AFCON in history. However, they lost all three matches to South Africa, Morocco and again Nigeria. Benin's only goal was scored by Moussa Latoundji against Nigeria.

History repeated itself again in 2008, when Benin lost to Mali, the Ivory Coast and yet again Nigeria. They also scored only once through Razak Omotoyossi in the 4–1 defeat to the Ivory Coast.

In 2010, the Benin Football Federation's president Anjorin Moucharaf was arrested. Members of the BFF decried the imprisonment, saying that Moucharaf had been unjustly accused of fraud, leading to 12 of the 15 board members resigning in protest.^[2]

In the 2010 World Cup qualifiers, Benin topped their group in the second round. They started with a defeat to Angola but went on to win the next four matches and ensure their qualification before the final day. In the third round of the qualifiers, Benin finished second in their group, three points behind Ghana. Despite not qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Benin's second-place finish ensured their qualification to the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, where they drew against Mozambique to receive their first ever point at the AFCON. The Squirrels then lost their other two matches against Nigeria and defending champions Egypt to finish third in their group and fail to progress to the next round. After this performance, on 8 February 2010, the BFF, not willing to accept a group stage exit for the third time in a row, dissolved the national team and sacked coach Michel Dussuyer, as well as the rest of his staff.^[3][4] Dussuyer was unaware that he had been sacked and claimed that he had not done anything wrong.^[5] The team became an innocent victim of enraged African countries failing to accept defeat at major tournaments and disbanding their national teams in the early 2010s, along with Nigeria, the team that Benin have met in the group stage of all three of their AFCONs before their disbandment, which were suspended for two years by President Goodluck Jonathan after the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

In the second round of the 2014 World Cup qualifiers, Benin were placed in Group H with Algeria, Mali and Rwanda. They finished third in their group, failing to advance to the next round.

On 9 May 2016, FIFA suspended Benin for unknown reasons.

At the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, despite advancing only as the third-best third-placed team, Benin reunited with Dussuyer, reached the quarter-finals, where they lost to eventual runners-up Senegal, with a shock win over tournament favourites Morocco on penalties.

The following is a list of match results in the last twelve months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

  Win   Draw   Loss   Fixture

2025

Morocco  v  Benin

9 June Friendly	Morocco	1–0	Benin	Fez, Morocco
21:00 UTC+1	El Kaabi 45+2'	Report		Stadium: Fez Stadium Attendance: 34,000 Referee: Mehrez Melki (Tunisia)

Benin  v  Zimbabwe

5 September 2026 World Cup qualification	Benin	1–0	Zimbabwe	Abidjan, Ivory Coast
16:00 UTC+0	Mounié 77'	Report		Stadium: Alassane Ouattara Stadium Attendance: 457 Referee: Lamin Jammeh (Gambia)

Benin  v  Lesotho

9 September 2026 World Cup qualification	Benin	4–0	Lesotho	Abidjan, Ivory Coast
20:45 UTC+0	Mounié 6' Hountondji 23' Imourane 33' Olaitan 67'	Report		Stadium: Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium Attendance: 3,417 Referee: Mahmood Ali Mahmood Ismail (Sudan)

Rwanda  v  Benin

10 October 2026 World Cup qualification	Rwanda	0–1	Benin	Kigali, Rwanda
17:00 UTC+1		Report	Aiyegun 80'	Stadium: Amahoro Stadium Referee: Mohamed Maarouf Eid Mansour (Egypt)

Nigeria  v  Benin

14 October 2025 (2025-10-14) 2026 World Cup qualification	Nigeria	4–0	Benin	Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, Uyo
17:00 UTC+1	Osimhen 3', 37', 51' Onyeka 90+1'	Report		Referee: Amin Omar (Egypt)

Burkina Faso  v  Benin

18 November Friendly	Burkina Faso	3–0	Benin	Mohammedia, Morocco
17:00 UTC+1	Minoungou 25', 45+3' Simpore 90+4'	Report		Stadium: El Bachir Stadium

DR Congo  v  Benin

23 December 2025 AFCON Group D	DR Congo	1–0	Benin	Rabat, Morocco
13:30 UTC+1	Bongonda 16'	Report		Stadium: Al Barid Stadium Attendance: 13,073 Referee: Abongile Tom (South Africa)

Benin  v  Botswana

27 December 2025 AFCON Group D	Benin	1–0	Botswana	Rabat, Morocco
13:30 UTC+1	Roche 28'	Report		Stadium: Rabat Olympic Stadium Attendance: 7,462 Referee: Shamirah Nabadda (Uganda)

Benin  v  Senegal

30 December 2025 AFCON Group D	Benin	0–3	Senegal	Tangier, Morocco
20:00 UTC+1		Report	Seck 38' H. Diallo 62' Koulibaly  71' C. Ndiaye 90+7'	Stadium: Ibn Batouta Stadium Attendance: 26,707 Referee: Samuel Uwikunda (Rwanda)

2026

Egypt  v  Benin

5 January 2025 AFCON Round of 16	Egypt	3–1 (a.e.t.)	Benin	Agadir, Morocco
17:00 UTC+1	Attia 69' Y. Ibrahim 97' M. Salah 124'	Report	Dossou 83'	Stadium: Adrar Stadium Attendance: 20,191 Referee: Pierre Atcho (Gabon)

Benin  v  Liberia

27 March Friendly	Benin	1–0	Liberia	Casablanca, Morocco
16:00 UTC+1	Tosin 85'	Report		Stadium: Père Jégo Stadium Referee: Jalal Jayed (Morocco)

Guinea  v  Benin

31 March Friendly	Guinea	0–1	Benin	Casablanca, Morocco
21:00 UTC+1		Report	Mounié 33'	Stadium: Larbi Zaouli Stadium Referee: Haythem Trabelsi (Tunisia)

Benin  v  Niger

5 June Friendly	Benin	1–1	Niger	Casablanca, Morocco
20:00 UTC+1	Amadou 37'	Report	Sako 90+2'	Stadium: Père Jégo Stadium Referee: Naoufal Nachite (Morocco)

Togo  v  Benin

9 June Friendly	Togo	5–1	Benin	Mohammedia, Morocco
19:00 UTC+1	Tijani 39' (o.g.) Komlavi 58' Djené 68' Denkey 74' Laba 88'	Report	F.Santos 6'	Stadium: El Bachir Stadium Referee: Mohamed El Baroudi (Morocco)

Burkina Faso  v  Benin

TBD 2027 AFCON qualification	Burkina Faso	v	Benin	TBD, Burkina Faso
TBD				Stadium: TBD

Benin  v  Burkina Faso

TBD 2027 AFCON qualification	Benin	v	Burkina Faso	TBD, Benin
TBD				Stadium: TBD

Benin  v  Mauritania

TBD 2027 AFCON qualification	Benin	v	Mauritania	TBD, Benin
TBD				Stadium: TBD

Mauritania  v  Benin

TBD 2027 AFCON qualification	Mauritania	v	Benin	TBD, Mauritania
TBD				Stadium: TBD

Benin  v  Central African Republic

TBD 2027 AFCON qualification	Benin	v	Central African Republic	TBD, Benin
TBD				Stadium: TBD

Central African Republic  v  Burkina Faso

TBD 2027 AFCON qualification	Central African Republic	v	Burkina Faso	TBD, Central African Republic
TBD				Stadium: TBD

As of 5 January 2026^[7]

Players in bold are still active with Benin.