Huge blow to Bafana rivals Nigeria’s World Cup chances with loss to Benin

Nigeria’s World Cup qualifying hopes took a heavy blow with a 2-1 defeat by Benin on Monday, but Ghana and Algeria salvaged wins while Egypt drew after all three were behind at halftime.

Nigeria are in Group C with Bafana Bafana, who will be looking to make themselves the new group favourites if they can win at home against Zimbabwe at Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein on Tuesday (6pm). 

The Super Eagles were held to a third draw in succession by South Arfica in Uyo (1-1) on Friday night. That was their second draw at home, having also been unable to beat Lesotho there in their opening game.

Benin now lead Group C with seven points, Lesotho are the shock team in second place with five, Rwanda and South Africa have four, Nigeria three and Zimbabwe two.

Nigeria lost away to Benin, who were forced to move the match to Abidjan in the Ivory Coast because their own stadium in Cotonou was declared unfit for use in international games.

Nigeria were ahead when Raphael Onyedika netted in the 27th minute, hesitating at first before squeezing the ball home, but Benin bounced back with goals by Jodel Dossou and Steve Mounie.

Dossou sprinted onto a breakaway chance to score but hurt his hamstring in the process and had to come off soon after the 37th minute goal while Mounie had a free back post header to win the game as he profited from poor Nigeria defending.

The victory was particularly sweet for Benin coach Gernort Rohr, sacked by Nigeria three years ago on the eve of taking them to the Africa Cup of Nations finals, and he was carried on the shoulders of his players at the final whistle.

Ghana's Jordan Ayew got a hat-trick as they beat the Central African Republic 4-3 in Kumasi after trailing 2-1 at the break.

Algeria were 1-0 down to Uganda in Kampala but second-half goals from Houssem Aouar and Said Benrahma secured a 2-1 win.

Mohamed Salah came to Egypt’s rescue with a sensational equaliser for a 1-1 draw in Guinea Bissau.

Ghana battled the rain to stage a spirited comeback with Ayew the hero, after being presented with a commemorative shirt before the match to mark 100 caps.

Ghana moved top of Group I with nine points after the victory, which followed an away triumph in Mali last week where Ayew snatched a late winner.

Egypt have a four-point lead in Group A while Algeria’s away win restored top spot in Group G after Guinea lost 1-0 to a last minute penalty for Mozambique, who join Algeria on nine points.

Botswana are on six points in the group after a 3-1 away win over Somalia.

Only the winners of the nine African groups qualify for the 2026 World Cup in North America but the best runner-up also has a chance for a slot via a lengthy playoff system.

More African qualifiers are being played on Tuesday, which marks the end of the fourth round of group matches. 

Reuters