Nigeria vs Benin 4-0: CAF World Cup qualifier – as it happened

The live coverage of Nigeria vs Benin in the final round of the CAF qualifying for the FIFA World Cup has ended.

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Qatar beat the United Arab Emirates 2-1 in the fourth round of Asian qualifying on Tuesday to seal a spot at next year’s World Cup finals.

It will be a second appearance at the finals for Qatar, who hosted the last edition in 2022.

Our full match report following Nigeria’s win against Benin, and South Africa’s victory against Rwanda, is now available here.

Algeria secured qualification last week and were hoping to celebrate in front of their fans in Tizi Ouzou on Tuesday, but made heavy weather of it and needed two late penalties from Mohammed Amoura to beat Uganda 2-1.

Amoura went top of the scoring charts in the African qualifiers with 10 goals as Algeria finished their Group G campaign with 25 points.

They handed a debut in goal to Luca Zidane, the son of France World Cup winner Zinedine Zidane, but he was beaten after six minutes as Steven Mukwala gave Uganda a shock lead.

“Victor Osimhen” is trending at the first spot in Nigeria on X, followed by #NGABEN, the hashtag used for the Nigeria vs Benin fixture.

“World Cup”, “Moses Simon” and “Playoffs” are also in the top 10 trends on the social media platform in the West African nation.

Nigerian forward Osimhen, the masked #15, proved to be the hero for the Super Eagles, thanks to his hat-trick of goals.

The ex-Napoli man struck twice in the first half before adding another goal in the second period, as Nigeria sailed to a resounding 4-0 win.

The victory keeps them in the hunt for World Cup qualification, as they aim to make their seventh appearance at the finals.

The FIFA playoffs tournament will see six sides fight it out for the final two places at the 2026 World Cup.

It will involve two teams from CONCACAF and one team apiece from the AFC, CAF, CONMEBOL and OFC. The four lowest-ranked nations will meet in bracket semifinals. The two highest-ranked teams will go directly into the finals. The winners of the two bracket finals will reach the FIFA World Cup 26.

The second round of the CAF qualifiers will pit the four best runners-up in two one-off semifinals, followed by a final. The winner of this second round will participate in the FIFA playoff tournament.

The interconfederation playoffs will see six sides fight it out for the final two places at the World Cup.

It will involve two teams from CONCACAF and one team each from the AFC, CAF, CONMEBOL and OFC. The tournament will take place in March 2026.

So far, seven African teams have qualified for the 2026 World Cup.

• Algeria
• Egypt
• Ghana
• Morocco
• Tunisia
• Cape Verde
• South Africa

Two more spots will be filled later today, as the winners of Groups B and F will be decided.

One more African team could qualify via the interconfederation playoffs.

Going into this match, Nigeria were third in Group C with 14 points, sitting one point behind second-placed South Africa and three behind leaders Benin.

But the Nigerians changed their destiny with their own efforts, thrashing Benin 4-0 to move to the second place.

Thanks to their impressive goal-scoring performance, the result also confirmed they will finish as one of the four best runners-up from the CAF qualifiers, who will have a chance at World Cup qualification through an intercontinental playoff.

South Africa walked away with the top spot with their 3-0 victory over Rwanda, securing their return to the World Cup for the first time since 2010.

A hat-trick from Osimhen and a stoppage-time goal from Onyeka has guided Nigeria to a solid 4-0 win over Benin.

They finish second in Group C, and will now go into the interconfederation playoffs to fight for a spot at the World Cup.

The full-time whistle has gone off in the other match, where South Africa have beaten Rwanda 3-0 and earned World Cup qualification as Group C winners.

Bafana Bafana will be playing at the World Cup for the first time since 2010, when they hosted it themselves.

90+4 mins: Nigeria 4-0 Benin

A few more minutes to go before Nigeria can celebrate their dominating performance.

90+3 mins: Nigeria 4-0 Benin

The substitute has found the vital fourth goal for Nigeria! This confirms Nigeria will go into the interconfederation playoffs for the World Cup, as one of the four runners-up from the CAF qualifiers.

Winger Simon charges into the box from the left side, crosses the ball for Onyeka on the other end before he drills his right-footed shot into the bottom left corner.

Onyeka rushes to the corner flag to celebrate in front of thousands of Nigerian fans, who have a reason to rejoice. Their World Cup dream lives on!

90+1 mins: Nigeria 4-0 Benin

Nigeria think they have found the fourth goal but it’s the side-netting that substitute Olusegun hit with his volleyed attempt.

89 mins: Nigeria 3-0 Benin

Benin substitute Olaitan is booked, while Nigeria are making their final change, bringing off Iwobi for Moffi.

Two minutes of normal time, plus added time, is remaining.

88 mins: Nigeria 3-0 Benin

Before today’s round of fixtures, Benin were on top of Group C, the spot which guarantees World Cup qualification.

But now, they are set to finish third, exiting the race for qualification.

It will be a heartbreaking end for the West African nation, which was playing for its maiden World Cup ticket.

85 mins: Nigeria 3-0 Benin