Benin Republic head coach Gernot Rohr has expressed believe that his team can still topple leaders Bafana Bafana of South Africa and qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Rohr and his side gave their qualification a huge boost by thrashing Lesotho 4-0 on Tuesday.
The win means Benin Republic, now on 14 points, reclaim second spot and cut South Africa’s lead to three points with two matches left to play.
Also Read: 2026 WCQ: Bafana Bafana Matched Super Eagles’ Power — Broos
Speaking in his post-match presser Rohr said:”If everything goes well, we’re level on points with South Africa, who should lose three points according to the regulations, because of that player who wasn’t eligible to play. So I don’t understand why FIFA hasn’t made a decision yet, but it’s very clear.
“The Eagles regulations are very clear on this. At that point, we’ll be level with South Africa, and anything is still possible,” Rohr said.
Also on Tuesday, Nigeria’s Super Eagles forced South Africa to a 1-1 draw in Bloemfontein.
The result means the Super Eagles face another heartbreak of not qualifying for the World Cup after missing the 2022 tournament in Qatar.
By James Agberebi
7 Comments
I’m with you boss….
Even your addent critics will strongly believe now that you are a result oriented coach….
who will even believe that Benin rep. will stand a chance of qualifying for a world cup play of but today here they are…..kudus to you my boss, we will forever miss you and your qualifying to major tournament game(s) to spare pattern….
how i wish we swallowed our pride and come to you, today we will be in 2026 world cup with games to spare, not this one that they are using calculators and permutations to wish and unwish ….hahahahhaha
God bless Rohr…. God bless Benin Rep.
We started using calculators this time around as early as matchday 4 out of 10 matchdays…….LMAOooo
If we win our next 6 matches, and South Africa, Rwanda, Lesotho, Benin Republic lose their next 6 matches bla bla bla bla………..LMAOoo
We now even have to start praying for teams in other groups to also lose for us to qualify……..LMAOooo. Those in our groups must lose, those outside our groups must also lose…..LMAOoo
Imagine praying to God for stray bullets to hit innocent people for us to make it in life.
72 years old maannnnn…!
Oga, even if you end up not qualifying Benin Republic for the World Cup, you have earned respect. I can bet this must be Benin’s best-ever qualification run in their entire history.
Qualifying for AFCON by getting results in that hell hole called Libya and a possible photo-finish for World Cup qualification sounds like a roller coaster to the average Beninoise.
At least Keshi had a super star called Adebayor when he did something similar for Togo 2 decades ago, but who do you have in Benin…..?? Yet you’ve created a goal machine in Steve Mounie who has 5 goals in the same group where Nigeria’s top scorer has only 3 (albeit a Victor Osimhen who we can practically say played just 3 matches)
For 3 straight qualification series under you, we produced the top scorer in the entire qualification, but ever since you left, our strikers no longer know how to score. Its very simple, you simply had a defined way of getting the ball into the box for our strikers to finish off.
I really enjoyed watching Benin play yesterday. That was how football should be played….with fluidity and a clearly defined pattern of advancing and assailing your opponents. I bet to say the Beninoise players had more ball sense than our “super stars” who run headlessly and directionlessly around the pitch, huffing and puffing against weaklings, like sheep without a shepherd. It was a clear indication of a team with a quality tutor and with clear instructions from the technical bench.
As the saying goes, “people may forget what you said to them, but they never forget how you made them feel”
We will never forget how you made us feel, man…!
You can retire with a smile on your face after the next AFCON.
This is the man that would have qualified us for the world cup. Shame on NFF, shame on Equavon, shame on Amaju Pinnick and everyone who supported the sacking of ROHR.
Now we are back to calculators since Rohr left us, and even the calculator is not calculating well again.
Is God not wonderful ever since this man left our football everything has been upside down. Thought they said Nigeria was winning because of Messi,Ronaldo,Maradona’s in our team then so we suppose to be beating everybody. Aren’t this players still in our team today? We are now in the era of using calculators and permutations to qualify. Carma is truly a bitch.
Even if benin beat Sa and we beat benin in our last match we can not still qualify. Sa will go through as group winners
I suggest that for the last two qualifiers, if SA draws their first match, Benin wins, and Nigeria also wins against Lesotho, the NFF should use home-based players in the final game against Benin, aiming for a draw or a loss.
Let Benin qualify.