In preparation for the next phase of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, former Super Eagles coach, Gernot Rohr, has named his Benin Republic team to face Super Eagles.
Nigeria faces South Africa on June 7 at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, Uyo before heading to Abidjan’s Stade Felix Houphouet-Boigny three days later for a date with Rohr’s Benin Republic.
The Eagles and the Squirrels are 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.
He will however hope to turn the fortune of the team around when he faces his former team and to do that the Franco-German has named his 25-man squad.
In the squad are 19 professionals playing at various clubs in Europe and six home-based players drawn from the local league.
Nigeria have drawn their first two matches in the series against Zimbabwe and Lesotho, positioning them in third place, trailing behind the leaders Rwanda with four points and South Africa with three points.
Acknowledging the qualities of the Eagles squad, Rohr said, “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.”
The 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.
