The draw ceremony for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers took place in Johannesburg, South Africa on July 4, 2024 and count down to the Super Eagles’ battles for a spot at the Morocco 2025 showpiece has started.
Three-time African champions, Super Eagles will face Benin Republic, Libya and Rwanda in Group D.
Completesports.com‘s ADEBOYE AMOSU makes an in-depth analysis on Nigeria’s opponents…
BENIN REPUBLIC
The Cheetahs are without doubt Nigeria’s biggest opponent in the Group D. They will be buoyed by their recent victory against the Super Eagles in a 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying match played in their Abidjan makeshift home.
The Beninese’s shock 2-1 win against Nigeria on June 10 2024 was masterminded by former Super Eagles head coach, Gernot Rohr. It was their second victory against the Super Eagles in a competitive game.
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Rohr’s good knowledge of the Super Eagles played a crucial role in that victory and would be vital again when both teams clash on the matchday-1 Group D of 2025 AFCON qualifiers in Nigeria on September 2, 2024.
Head-to-Head:
Benin Republic have a poor record against the Super Eagles with only two wins from 17 games.
The Super Eagles have defeated the Cheetahs 13 times, with the other two games ending in a draw.
They recorded their first win against Nigeria in 2017.
AFCON Record:
Benin Republic have qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations four times and made it to the knockout round only once.
They were quarter-finalists at the 2019 AFCON finals hosted by Egypt.
Key Players:
Steve Mounie: The 29-year-old is one of the most experienced players in the team. Mounie is well known to Nigerian fans due to his stint with Huddersfield Town in the English Premier Football.
Currently playing for German club, Augsburg, the striker scored the decisive goal in Benin’s 2-1 win over Nigeria in Abidjan last month. He has scored 17 goals in 53 appearances for his country.
Jodel Dossou: The Sochaux of France star was a handful for Super Eagles defenders in their last meeting in June.
The midfielder scored the equalising goal for the Cheetahs before leaving the pitch injured.
Dossou has made 63 appearances for Benin Republic with 10 goals to his name.
LIBYA
The North Africans will hope that their experienced tactician, Milutin Sredojevic, can help them navigate through this tough Group D.
The Serbian has been coaching in Africa for over two decades. He has managed a number of national teams in Africa including Rwanda, Zambia and Uganda.
Head-to-Head:
The Super Eagles have met the Libyans five times, winning four times and losing once.
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Nigeria claimed a 3-2 win against the Mediterranean Knights the last time both countries met in a 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Sfax, Tunisia six years ago.
AFCON Record:
The Mediterranean Knights have made three appearances at the AFCON finals. Their first appearance was at the 1982 edition which they hosted. Libya made it to the final of the competition but fell to Ghana in a penalty shootout.
They qualified for the 2006 and 2012 tournaments, but exited both in group stage.
Key Players:
Almoatasembellah Al Musrati: He is Libya’s current highest profile footballer. The 28-year-old scored the winning goal for Besiktas in the Turkish Cup final win over Trabzonspor in May.
The forward played in the UEFA Champions League with his former club Braga two seasons ago.
Daniel Elfadli: The defensive midfielder plays for German Bundesliga 2 club, SV Hamburg. The 27-year-old was born in Germany but opted to represent Libya.
He has scored one goal in two appearances for the Mediterranean Knights.
RWANDA
The Amavubi have only lost once in their last seven outings. Torsten Spittler’s side also sit at the top of their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying Group C with seven points from four games, ahead of South Africa, Benin Republic, Lesotho, Nigeria and Zimbabwe.
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They will surely be a tough nut to crack for the other teams in the Group D of the 2025 AFCON qualifiers. They will host the Super Eagles of Nigeria in a matchday -2 game on September 10, 2024.
Head-to-Head:
Nigeria and Rwanda have met five times in the past , with the Super Eagles winning twice and the other three games ending in a draw.
AFCON Record:
Rwanda have qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations only once in their history. They failed to make it beyond the group stage in their maiden appearance in 2004.
Key Players:
Jojea Kwizera: Kwizera is one of the fast rising stars in the Rwandan national team. The forward, who was born to a Rwandan father and Congolese mother scored the Amavubi’s only goal in an away win against Lesotho last month.
Innocent Nshuti: The forward is one of the few foreign-based professionals in the Amavubi team. He currently plays for One Knoxville SC in the USL League One (USL1) , third-tier League in the USA. Nshuti has netted three times in 13 appearances for Rwanda.
3 Comments
Ideally, nothing to fear but the real question is: will the real super Eagles ever turn up?
Ah Sylvester! The Super Eagles always turn up. We are going to destroy our opponents before rising like a phoenix from the ashes of despair to occupy the driving seat in our world cup group.
Onuachu is determined to play his part in propelling Super Eagles to greatness. So also is Aribo and Ndidi.
We are going places – Mark my words. It will be like Sylvester Stallone vs Dolph Lundgren in Rocky.
My goodness, CS you pick on two players from a team of 11 or even squad of 23 and claim you have exposed SE AFCON opponents? You have not exposed anything as 2 players alone can’t win a football match. And what if the 2 players you identified got injured or indisposed, does it mean their country will withdraw from the qualifiers?
On paper, the SE team are far more talented than the 3 other country in the qualifier group, but will ego and show-boating allow them apply themselves to the cause?