Benin Republic Football Team: Cheetahs Squad, Fixtures and African Kick-Off Times

Benin's football story brings together regional rivalries, continental tournament appearances and players representing clubs across borders. The side became known as the Cheetahs (Les Guépards) in 2022. Their first international was against Nigeria on 8 November 1959, and they played at the 2004, 2008, 2010, 2019 and 2025 AFCON tournaments. Consult the available competition records for Benin's World Cup qualification history. South African readers searching for the Benin soccer team are following this same national side.

The squad and fixtures modules show the available Benin player and match information; consult the listed kick-off details alongside WAT, GMT, EAT and SAST. The Cheetahs' history also reaches beyond Cotonou. For a Lagos fan, Benin are a little like the neighbour across the fence whose generator you hear every evening: close enough to know well, and close enough that every meeting carries some extra noise.

Who Are the Cheetahs, and What Does Benin Republic Mean?

Benin adopted the nickname Les Guépards, meaning the Cheetahs, in 2022. Previously known as Les Écureuils, the Squirrels, the team have a history spanning both animal names. When comparing records across those eras, use the competition and year to place each result in context.

Benin played as Dahomey until 1975, when the Republic of Dahomey became Benin, which is why the oldest results carry the old name. The country joined FIFA in 1962 and CAF in 1969, after a first international against Nigeria on 8 November 1959 that ended in a 1 to 0 defeat while the territory was still a French dependency. So, the very first line of the Cheetahs' history has Nigeria in it.

Benin Fixtures: When Is the Benin Next Match Where You Live?

Consult the available Benin fixture information for match dates, competitions, venues and kick-off details. Benin play most of their football in the international windows, so the fixtures arrive in clusters, with AFCON qualifiers and World Cup qualifiers followed by friendlies and then a long gap. If you are planning around work, the arithmetic is simple: Ghana runs on GMT, Nigeria on WAT (GMT plus one), South Africa on SAST (GMT plus two), and Kenya and Uganda on EAT (GMT plus three).

So, a match that starts at 16:00 GMT in Accra kicks off at 17:00 WAT in Lagos, 18:00 SAST in Johannesburg and 19:00 EAT in Nairobi and Kampala. Check viewing information for your country and the relevant competition. To find Benin's next match, consult the available fixtures and confirm the listed date and time.

Who Is in the Benin Squad?

Consult the available Benin squad information for player names, positions, clubs and international appearances. Read any listed caps figures first, in my opinion, because they help identify international experience; a centre back with fifty appearances and a forward with five bring different backgrounds to a qualifier.

The clubs column shows where the listed players compete. That being said, the detail I always look for is the club overlap with the Super Eagles, because a Benin defender who meets a Nigerian striker in the same league abroad brings a little private knowledge into any qualifier between the two neighbours.

Who Coaches Benin, and How Do They Play?

Consult the available squad information for coaching details. Gernot Rohr’s appointment came on 28 February 2023, when he took the Benin job. Rohr had coached Nigeria from 9 August 2016 to December 2021, and long before that he played for Bordeaux from 1977 to 1989, later coaching the club to the 1996 UEFA Cup final, which they lost to Bayern Munich. Benin, in my opinion, are at their best when they set up compact and patient, defending as a tight unit and breaking quickly, a sensible approach for a side that often meets deeper squads. His appointment added a coaching connection to the history between Benin and the Super Eagles.

How Do You Read Benin's Qualifying Tables and FIFA Ranking?

Benin's qualifying groups appear as tables (the log, if you prefer) that rank teams by points, three for a win and one for a draw, with the tie breakers set by CAF or FIFA for that competition deciding any level finish. AFCON qualifying groups are short, so one home draw can swing a whole campaign. Consult the available table and the competition's qualification format to understand which finishing places advance. Read the games played column beside the points, because a team with a match in hand can look further behind than it really is.

Consult the available FIFA ranking information alongside Benin's historical benchmarks. Benin were ranked 59th in November and December 2009 and again in April 2010, around the strong 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign, and 165th in July 1996. Compare the module's ranking with those dated positions to see how it relates to earlier periods in the Cheetahs' history.

What Have Benin Achieved at AFCON and the World Cup?

Read each World Cup qualifying campaign by round and group, checking the advancement criteria alongside Benin's results. Their Africa Cup of Nations appearances included 2004, 2008, 2010, 2019 and 2025. The early trips were difficult, with three defeats and a single goal at both 2004 and 2008 (the second of those tournaments was staged in Ghana), and the first AFCON point arrived with a draw against Mozambique in 2010. Strong home results from the first matchday to the last provide a foundation for a qualifying campaign.

The best run came in 2019, under Michel Dussuyer, who coached Benin from 2008 to 2010 and again from 2018 to 2021. Benin went through as a third placed team, beat Morocco on penalties and reached the quarter finals, where Senegal ended the adventure. That penalty night against Morocco is, in my opinion, the result every Beninese fan keeps closest. The 2025 tournament, which ran into January 2026, added a 1 to 0 group win over Botswana and a round of 16 tie that Egypt won 3 to 1 after extra time on 5 January 2026.

Who Holds the Benin Records?

Consult the available records information for Benin’s appearance and goalscoring leaders, including Stéphane Sessègnon. Compare caps and goals alongside each player's international career span to understand how those totals were built; sustained international goalscoring is rather like a Lagos danfo driver who has worked the same route for a decade, steady work across many years rather than one great afternoon.

Where Do Benin Play, and How Do You Get Tickets?

Benin play most home matches at the Stade de l'Amitié in Cotonou, the main national stadium and the usual setting for the big qualifiers. Consult the available fixture information to confirm the venue, because international fixtures sometimes move to another approved ground when stadium work or scheduling requires it. For Nigerian fans the trip is short by African standards (Cotonou is closer to Lagos than Abuja is), which is why a Benin home qualifier against Nigeria tends to draw travelling support from across the border.

Tickets for home matches are sold through the national federation and the official partners it names, often in the days before a match rather than months ahead. So, the practical step is to follow the federation's official announcements once the fixture date appears in the module, and to buy only through the channels it lists. If you are travelling from Lagos, remember that Cotonou keeps the same clock as Nigeria, so a 17:00 WAT kick-off is 17:00 at the stadium too, and the road time is yours to plan.

Why Do Benin Matter in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda and South Africa?

Benin's football history connects directly with Nigeria and South Africa through the World Cup qualifier of 14 October 2025, when the Super Eagles won 4 to 0. That result eliminated Benin and sent Nigeria into the African play offs, on a final night when South Africa qualified from the same group, so Nigerian and South African readers were following one race. For the Super Eagles players involved it meant another chance at the World Cup; for Benin it marked the gap a future campaign could close.

Ghanaian readers remember the 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign, when Benin topped their second round group and then finished second in the third round, three points behind the Black Stars. Readers in Kenya and Uganda, which jointly host the 2027 AFCON with Tanzania, can consult the available qualification information to follow Benin's route towards that tournament. For meetings with Bafana Bafana, the Harambee Stars and the Uganda Cranes, consult the available head to head results, and you can compare all the national teams from the same place.

Is It Benin Republic, Benin or Dahomey?

Use the opponent, date and competition to match an older result with its place in Benin's football history. The historical name belongs to the team's earlier results. So, if a friend in Ibadan asks about the Benin Republic football team and a friend in Nairobi asks about the Benin national team, they mean the same Cheetahs, with one squad, one fixture list and one history.