Nigeria fought back to hold Benin to a 1-1 draw in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualification Group D match at the Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny on Thursday night.
The draw saw an already-qualified Nigeria side maintain a four-point lead at the top of the Group D standings and the Super Eagles will end their qualifying campaign with a match against Rwanda at home on 18 November.
FT in Abidjan. Benin 1–1 Nigeria| See you in Morocco and thank you all for your support #SoarSuperEagles pic.twitter.com/kdm75RfX7X
— 🇳🇬 Super Eagles (@NGSuperEagles) November 14, 2024
Benin, on the other hand, remained second in the Group D standings after letting a lead slip and the Cheetahs will qualify for the Afcon finals if they secure a victory over Libya away from home on 18 November.
The Cheetahs looked threatening from crosses in the early exchanges and a lovely cross from Junior Olaitan was headed home by Mohamed Tijani at the near-post to hand Benin a 1-0 lead in the 17th minute.
The Super Eagles should have levelled matters in the 42nd minute when Bruno Onyemaechi's pin-point cross found an unmarked Victor Osimhen who somehow headed wide of the target from close range and Benin were 1-0 up at halftime.
Both teams launched attacks after the restart with neither side ready to sit back and defend.
Junior Olaitan failed to beat goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali from close range in the 62nd minute, before Onyemaechi's effort clipped the near-post 10 minutes later at the other end.
The late chance fell for Osimhen who was able to make amends for his surprise first-half miss as the Galatasaray striker headed home inspired substitute Moses Simon's top-notch cross in the 81st minute to ensure that the match ended in a 1-1 draw.
V I C T O R O S I M H E N 🔥🔥🔥 @victorosimhen9 23 goals for the Super Eagles, now joint 2nd All Time Top Scorer with the legendary @Mathematical7 . #soarsupereagles pic.twitter.com/tRbsmzy2tm
— 🇳🇬 Super Eagles (@NGSuperEagles) November 14, 2024
Benin (1) 1 (Tijani 17')
Nigeria (0) 1 (Osimhen 81')
Benin: Dandjinou; Moumini, Ouorou, Roche; Tijani, D’Almeida (Adilehou 75'), Dokou; Hassane, Olaitan, Mounie, Aiyegun (Hountondji 82')
Nigeria: Nwabali; Osho (Simon 46'), Ekong, Bassey; Aina (Osayi-Samuel 82'), Ndidi, Iwobi (Boniface 72'), Onyemaechi; Iheanacho (Onyekadi 46'), Osimhen, Lookman (Onyeka 90'+1)