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Ahead of the next phase of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, former Super Eagles coach, Gernot Rohr, has released Benin Republic’s team list to face the Super Eagles of Nigeria in June.
Nigeria will face South Africa on June 7 at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, Uyo before heading to A Stade Felix Houphouet-Boigny in Abidjan three days later for a date with Rohr’s Benin Republic.
The Eagles and the Squirrels were drawn in Group C of the World Cup qualifiers and are set to face each other next month.
Since taking over the Benin job in February 2023, Rohr has played 10 games, winning just one, drawing four, and losing five.
Despite being the coach of the Super Eagles’ opponent Benin Republic, Rohr is bothered about the quality of Nigeria.
“They are only two points behind the group leaders (Rwanda), and that is an advantage they can overturn in the next round. We cannot rule out a team with the quality of the Nigerian team. Every team in the group knows it.” He said.
It would be recalled that the Super Eagles last qualified for the global football tournament in Russia in 2018 after they missed out on Qatar 2022 following a play-off defeat to eternal rivals Ghana.
The squirrels are expected to leave Cotonou for Abidjan on Monday and train on the same pitch where they will face the Super Eagles.
During his time in charge of the Eagles, which spanned five years, Rohr led the team through a total of 64 matches.
He guided the Eagles to 35 victories, suffered 13 losses, and endured 16 drawn games.
One of the highlight of his time in charge of the Eagles was a third-place finish at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt.
Super Eagles could climb to the top of the group C if they win their next two qualifiers.
All group leaders will automaticall qualify for the next world Cup holding in Canada, Unuted States, Mexico in 2026.
There will be an opportunity for the overall best runners up in all the 9 groups to play World Cup play off later in the qualifying series.
Africa will present 9 countries with an option of the tenth depending on the outcome of the play off.