Benin national football team

Benin
Nickname(s)	Les Écureuils ; (The Squirrels)
Association	Benin Football Federation
Confederation	CAF (Africa)
Sub-confederation	WAFU (West Africa)
Head coach	Michel Dussuyer
Captain	Stéphane Sessègnon
Most caps	Stéphane Sessègnon (73)
Top scorer	Stéphane Sessègnon, Razak Omotoyossi (21)
Home stadium	Stade de l'Amitié
FIFA code	BEN
First colours	Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	94 (7 February 2019)
Highest	59 (November–December 2009, April 2010)
Lowest	165 (July 1996)
Elo ranking
Current	107 5 (2 February 2019)
Highest	93 (6 January 2010)
Lowest	165 (13 May 1995)
First international
	Dahomey 0–1 Nigeria ; (Dahomey; 8 November 1959)
Biggest win
	Dahomey 7–0 Mauritania ; (Abidjan, Ivory Coast; 27 December 1961)
Biggest defeat
	Nigeria 10–1 Dahomey ; (Nigeria; 28 November 1959)
Africa Cup of Nations
Appearances	3 (first in 2004)
Best result	Group stage, 2004, 2008 and 2010

The Benin national football team, nicknamed Les Écureuils (The Squirrels), is the national football team of Benin and is controlled by the Benin Football Federation. They were known as the Dahomey national football team until 1975, when Republic of Dahomey became Benin. They have never qualified for the World Cup, but have reached three recent African Nations Cups – 2004, 2008, and 2010. On 8 February 2010 after the preliminary competition from the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations in Angola, the Benin Football Federation dissolved the national team, coach Henri Dussuyer and his complete staff were fired.^[3] On May 9, 2016, Benin was suspended from FIFA.

Competition recordsEdit

World Cup recordEdit

FIFA World Cup record									FIFA World Cup Qualification record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1930 to 1970	Did not enter								Did not enter
1974	Did not qualify								3	0	0	3	1	10
1978 to 1982	Did not enter								Did not enter
1986	Did not qualify								2	0	0	2	0	6
1990	Did not enter								Did not enter
1994	Did not qualify								6	1	0	5	3	19
1998	Did not enter								Did not enter
2002	Did not qualify								2	0	1	1	1	2
2006									12	2	3	7	13	26
2010									6	3	1	2	6	6
2014									6	2	2	2	8	9
2018									2	1	0	1	2	3
2022	To be determined								Qualification yet to start
2026	To be determined								Qualification yet to start
Total	−	0/21	−	−	−	−	−	−	39	9	7	23	34	81

Africa Cup of NationsEdit

Africa Cup of Nations record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1962	Did not enter
1963
1965
1968
1970
1972	Did not qualify
1974	Withdrew
1976	Withdrew
1978	Did not enter
1980	Did not qualify
1982	Did not enter
1984	Did not qualify
1986
1988
1990
1992
1994
1996	Withdrew
1998	Did not qualify
2000
2002
2004	Group stage	16th	3	0	0	3	1	8
2006	Did not qualify
2008	Group stage	15th	3	0	0	3	1	7
2010	Group stage	14th	3	0	1	2	2	5
2012	Did not qualify
2013
2015
2017
2019	To be determined
2021	To be determined
2023	To be determined
Total	Group stage	3/31	9	0	1	8	4	20

West African Nations CupEdit

West African Nations Cup record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1982	Group stage	6th	3	0	2	1	4	8
1983	Did not enter
1984	Group stage	5th	4	0	0	4	3	9
1986	Did not enter
1987	Group stage	7th	3	0	2	1	3	7
Total	Group stage	3/5	10	0	4	6	10	24

WAFU Nations CupEdit

WAFU Nations Cup record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
2010	Group stage	7th	3	0	1	2	0	5
2011	Did not enter
2013	Fourth place	4th	4	0	2	2	5	6
2017	Fourth place	4th	5	2	0	3	4	8
Total	Fourth place	3/4	12	2	3	7	9	19

Results and fixturesEdit

Win Draw Loss

2017Edit

8 November 2017 Friendly	Congo	1–1	Benin	Brazzaville, Congo
15:30 GMT	Saint-Louis 44'	Report	Djigla 45'	Stadium: Stade Municipal de Kintélé Attendance: 1,000 Referee: Kabanga Yannick Malala (DR Congo)

12 November 2017 Friendly	Benin	1–1	Tanzania	Cotonou, Benin
16:00 GMT	Sessègnon 30' (pen.)	Report	Maguri 51'	Stadium: Stade de l'Amitié Attendance: 15,000 Referee: Adissa Ligali (Benin)

2018Edit

9 September 2018 2019 AFCONQ	Togo	0–0	Benin	Lomé, Togo
16:00 GMT		Report		Stadium: Stade Municipal Referee: Noureddine El Jaafari (Morocco)

12 October 2018 2019 AFCONQ	Algeria	2–0	Benin	Blida, Algeria
20:45 CET	Bensebaini 21' Bounedjah 75'	Report		Stadium: Stade Mustapha Tchaker Referee: Sékou Ahmed Touré (Guinea)

16 October 2018 2019 AFCONQ	Benin	1–0	Algeria	Cotonou, Benin
16:00 WAT	D'Almeida 16'	Report		Stadium: Stade de l'Amitié Referee: Jackson Pavaza (Namibia)

17 November 2018 2019 AFCONQ	Gambia	3–1	Benin	Bakau, Gambia
16:30 GMT	L. Jallow 70' B. Jobe 78' A. Jallow 90+5'	Report	Mounié 34'	Stadium: Independence Stadium Referee: Sadok Selmi (Tunisia)

2019Edit

22 March 2019 2019 AFCONQ	Benin	v	Togo	Benin
WAT		Report

PlayersEdit

Current squadEdit

The following players have been selected for the AFCON qualifier match against Gambia on 17 November 2018.^[4]

Caps and goals updated as of 17 November 2018 after the game against Gambia.^[5]

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Fabien Farnolle	(1985-02-05) 5 February 1985 (age 34)	23	0	Malatyaspor
16	1GK	Saturnin Allagbé	(1993-11-22) 22 November 1993 (age 25)	12	0	Niort

3	2DF	Khaled Adénon (Captain)	(1985-07-28) 28 July 1985 (age 33)	58	2	Amiens
5	2DF	Junior Salomon	(1986-04-08) 8 April 1986 (age 32)	21	0	Plateau United
6	2DF	Olivier Verdon	(1995-10-05) 5 October 1995 (age 23)	9	0	Sochaux-Montbéliard
12	2DF	David Kiki	(1993-11-25) 25 November 1993 (age 25)	17	0	Brest
13	2DF	Moise Adilehou	(1995-11-01) 1 November 1995 (age 23)	2	0	Levadiakos
18	2DF	Séidou Barazé	(1990-10-20) 20 October 1990 (age 28)	15	0	Yzeure
22	2DF	Chams Chaona	(1996-10-24) 24 October 1996 (age 22)	2	0	Stade Gabèsien
	2DF	Emmanuel Imorou	(1988-09-16) 16 September 1988 (age 30)	12	0	Caen

4	3MF	Djiman Koukou	(1990-11-14) 14 November 1990 (age 28)	41	1	Lens
7	3MF	David Djigla	(1995-08-23) 23 August 1995 (age 23)	18	3	Niort
8	3MF	Jordan Adéoti	(1989-03-12) 12 March 1989 (age 29)	21	0	Auxerre
15	3MF	Sessi D'Almeida	(1995-11-20) 20 November 1995 (age 23)	5	1	Yeovil Town
21	3MF	Jean Marie Guéra	(1996-12-22) 22 December 1996 (age 22)	0	0	Enyimba
	3MF	Cebio Soukou	(1992-10-02) 2 October 1992 (age 26)	0	0	Hansa

9	4FW	Steve Mounié	(1994-09-29) 29 September 1994 (age 24)	13	2	Huddersfield Town
10	4FW	Mickaël Poté	(1984-09-24) 24 September 1984 (age 34)	46	7	Adana Demirspor
11	4FW	Jacques Bessan	(1993-09-15) 15 September 1993 (age 25)	9	1	Stade Tunisien
19	4FW	Désiré Segbé Azankpo	(1993-05-06) 6 May 1993 (age 25)	6	0	FK Senica
20	4FW	Jodel Dossou	(1992-03-17) 17 March 1992 (age 26)	23	2	Vaduz
	4FW	Marcellin Koukpo	(1995-04-06) 6 April 1995 (age 23)	12	2	Hammam Lif

Recent call-upsEdit

The following players have been called up for Benin in the last 12 months.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
MF	Stéphane Sessègnon ^SUS	(1984-06-01) 1 June 1984 (age 34)	73	21	Gençlerbirliği	v. Algeria, 16 October 2018
MF	Mama Séïbou ^INJ	(1995-12-28) 28 December 1995 (age 23)	22	2	SC Toulon	v. Algeria, 16 October 2018
MF	Tidjani Anaane	(1997-03-27) 27 March 1997 (age 21)	0	0	Ben Guerdane	v. Togo, 9 September 2018
^DEC Player refused to join the team after the call-up. ^INJ Player withdrew from the squad due to an injury. ^PRE Preliminary squad. ^RET Player has retired from international football. ^SUS Suspended from the national team.

RecordsEdit

As of 20 November 2018

Players in bold text are still active with Benin.

Most Caps^[6]
#	Player	Caps	Goals	Career
1	Stéphane Sessègnon	73	21	2004–
2	Khaled Adénon	58	2	2006–
=	Damien Chrysostome	58	0	2002–2011
4	Razak Omotoyossi	55	21	2004–2016
=	Jocelyn Ahouéya	55	3	2003–2013
6	Romuald Boco	52	1	2004–2013
7	Séïdath Tchomogo	51	4	2003–2014
8	Mickaël Poté	46	7	2008–
9	Kayodé Adjamossi	44	1	2002–2013
10	Mouritala Ogunbiyi	42	6	2007–2014

Top Goalscorers^[6]
#	Player	Goals	Caps	Career
1	Stéphane Sessègnon	21	73	2004–
=	Razak Omotoyossi	21	55	2004–2016
3	Oumar Tchomogo	15	34	1995–2008
4	Mickaël Poté	7	46	2008–
5	Mouritala Ogunbiyi	6	42	2001–2010
6	Moussa Latoundji	6	21	1993–2004

List of Benin managersEdit

Serge Devèze
Wabi Gomez
Peter Schnittger (1992)
Moise Ekoue (1993)
Cecil Jones Attuquayefio (2003–2004)
Hervé Revelli (2004)
Edmé Codjo (2005–2007)
Didier Notheaux (2007)
Reinhard Fabisch (2007–2008)
Michel Dussuyer (2008–2010)
Jean-Marc Nobilo (2010)
Denis Goavec (2010–2011)
Edmé Codjo (2011–2012)
Manuel Amoros (2012–2014)
Didier Ollé-Nicolle (2014)
Oumar Tchomogo (2015–2017)
Michel Dussuyer (2018–)

ReferencesEdit

^ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. 7 February 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
^ Elo rankings change compared to one year ago. "World Football Elo Ratings". eloratings.net. 2 February 2019. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
^ Benin löst Nationalelf auf
^ http://www.afrik-foot.com/can-2019-q-la-liste-du-benin-sans-sessegnon
^ "Benin team of 2018". national-football-teams.com. National Football Teams.
^ ^a ^b Mamrud, Roberto. "Benin – Record International Players". RSSSF. Retrieved 12 November 2017.

[FIFA_World_Rankings-1] "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. 7 February 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2019.

[World_Football_Elo_Ratings-2] Elo rankings change compared to one year ago. "World Football Elo Ratings". eloratings.net. 2 February 2019. Retrieved 2 February 2019.

[3] Benin löst Nationalelf auf

[4] ttp://www.afrik-foot.com/can-2019-q-la-liste-du-benin-sans-sessegnon

[5] "Benin team of 2018". national-football-teams.com. National Football Teams.

[rsssf_benin_players-6] Mamrud, Roberto. "Benin – Record International Players". RSSSF. Retrieved 12 November 2017.

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