Benin and Senegal will battle for a place in the Round of 16 when they meet in their final Group D fixture by 8pm.
The two sides have met once before at the AFCON finals, in the quarter-finals of the 2019 tournament. On that occasion, Senegal edged a tense contest 1-0, with midfielder Idrissa Gueye scoring the decisive goal in the 70th minute to send the Lions of Teranga through.
History strongly favours Senegal. Across nine previous meetings in all competitions, they have recorded seven victories to Benin’s one, with two matches ending in draws. Benin’s sole win came in their first-ever encounter on 31 December 1961, a thrilling 4-3 success almost 64 years ago.
Senegal are unbeaten in their last eight matches against Benin, winning six and drawing two, and have found the net in every meeting between the sides. Notably, all four clean sheets recorded in this fixture have belonged to Senegal, each coming in narrow 1-0 victories.
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Those shutouts include two international friendlies in 1982 and 2024, a qualifier for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, and the 2019 AFCON quarter-final. That consistency underlines Senegal’s defensive control in key moments against their West African neighbours.
The teams have also crossed paths in major qualification campaigns. In the 2002 World Cup qualifiers, Senegal progressed 2-1 on aggregate after a 1-1 draw in Benin and a 1-0 home win, a campaign that culminated in their historic debut at the finals in Korea/Japan. More recently, during qualification for the 2023 AFCON, Senegal won 3-1 at home with Sadio Mané scoring a hat-trick before a 1-1 draw in Cotonou. As they meet again in Tangier, both sides know the stakes could hardly be higher, with knockout football firmly within reach.
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