Nigeria vs. Benin live score: World Cup qualifying result, updates, stats as Osimhen fires Super Eagles into early lead.

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Nigeria have one more roll of the dice as they try to escape from World Cup qualification with a place at the finals.

A tense victory over Lesotho last week kept the Super Eagles in touch with group leaders Benin, who they host in Uyo, knowing only a victory will do.

To overhaul Benin in the standings, Nigeria must win either 1-0 or by a margin of two goals. However, if South Africa beat Rwanda in Mbombela, that will only be good enough for second place.

That would put Nigeria in the rankings of runner-up teams from the nine groups, with the four best of those progressing to an inter-confederation playoff.

If DR Congo beat Sudan as expected, then Eric Chelle’s side will need to beat Benin by a four-goal margin to leapfrog Burkina Faso as the fourth-best runner-up.

The key detail is that Nigeria must win to stand any chance, something they have only managed in three out of nine qualifiers to date.

Nigeria vs. Benin live score

  1st Half Goal scorers
Nigeria 1  
Benin 0  

Venue: Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, Uyo
Referee: Amin Mohamed Omar (Egypt)

Predicted lineups:

Nigeria (4-2-2-2, right to left): 23. Stanley Nwabali (GK) — 2. Benjamin Fredrick, 6. Semi Ajayi, 21. Calvin Bassey, 3. Zaidu Sanusi— 4. Wilfred Ndidi, 17. Alex Iwobi —  11. Samuel Chukwueze, 15. Moses Simon — 9. Victor Osimhen, 20. Akor Adams

Benin (4-2-3-1, right to left): 1. Marcel Dandjinou (GK) — 3. Tamimou Ouorou, 6. Olivier Verdon, 13. Mohamed Tijani, 13. David Kiki — 4. Cedric Hountondji, 8. Hassane Imourane — Dossou, 19. Dodo Dokou, Hountondji — 9. Steve Mounie

MORE: Can Nigeria still qualify for World Cup 2026? Super Eagles match schedule and what they need to reach FIFA finals

Nigeria vs. Benin live updates, highlights, and commentary

9 mins: Through ball aimed for Mounie is cut out excellently by Sanusi before the Nigeria left-back drives his team forward.

7 mins: Oh, there’s been another early goal. South Africa lead Rwanda 1-0. As it stands, that puts Bafana Bafana top of the group, with Nigeria in second but the Super Eagles needing to feather their goal difference to finish as one of he top four runners-up.

3 mins: GOOOOOOAAAAAAALLLLLLL!!!!!! Victor Osimhen!!!!

Lift-off in Uyo. Benin are careless with the ball around halfway. Chukwueze takes one touch to get he ball out of his feet and with his second slots a delicious throughball for Osimhen, who charges through on goal and finishes emphatically.

2 mins: Ball over the top looking for Osimhen has too much on it and runs through to Dandjinou.

Kickoff

Off we go. A lobbed ball goalwards gives Nwabali some early work in the Nigeria goal.

5 mins before kickoff: Here come the teams. A gigantic 90 minutes coming up.

30 mins before kickoff: The most eyebrow-raising of Eric Chelle’s calls is the decision to drop captain William Troost-Ekong to the bench. The skipper scored the vital first goal against Lesotho from the penalty spot, but Chelle is clearly keen to see a nerve backline bolstered by Semi Ajayi alongside Calvin Bassey at centre-back. Wilfred Ndidi will captain the side today.

50 mins before kickoff: No team news on the official Benin X account just yet, but here’s a leopard eating an eagle. No messing about!

1 hour before kickoff: Here’s the Nigeria lineup and there are four changes from the Lesotho game. Akor Adams came off the bench to score and is rewarded with a start.

1hr 30 mins before kickoff: Part of the reason Benin head into this game as group leaders and with qualification for a maiden World Cup in their own hands is the reverse fixture. On June 10 last year, Les Guepards came from behind to secure a 2-1 win thanks to goals from Jodel Dossou and Steve Mounie.

2hr 15 mins before kickoff: So, let’s have a spin through the permutations. First and foremost, Nigeria have to beat Benin to stand any chance of going through. Either a 1-0 win or victory without a clean sheet but by two clear goals will see them finish ahead of Gernot Rohr’s side on goal difference.

However, even if they do that the Super Eagles can only top Group C if South Africa fail to beat Rwanda at home. Bafana Bafana are likely to be a little twitchy after drawing with Zimbabwe last time out.

If South Africa win, then Nigeria need a victory to finish second, at which point they will be in the rankings to finish inside the four best runners-up to reach the intercontinental playoffs. As things stand, it looks like they will need a four goal win over group leaders Benin to make that happen.

Victor Osimhen in action for Nigeria

3 hours before kickoff: Hello and welcome to The Sporting News’ live coverage of Nigeria vs. Benin in World Cup qualification. They’ve needed a favour from the Court of Arbitration for Sport and need another from Rwanda, along with taking care of their own business today. But the Super Eagles head into their final World Cup qualifier with a chance of reaching next year’s finals.

Nigeria vs. Benin kick off time

The World Cup qualifying match kicks off in Uyo at 5 p.m. local time.

Here’s how that time translates across some of the major territories:

  Date Kickoff time
USA Tue, Oct 14 12:00 p.m. ET
Canada Tue, Oct 14 12:00 p.m. ET
UK Tue, Oct 14 5:00 p.m. BST
Australia Wed, Oct 15 3:00 a.m. AEDT
India Tue, Oct 14 10:30 p.m. IST

Nigeria vs. Benin lineups, team news

Nigeria are without Ola Aina due to the injury the right-back suffered against South Africa last month.

Key attacker Ademola Lookman is suspended following the yellow card he collected against Lesotho.

Victor Osimhen will be hoping to add to his three goals in qualifying, while Fulham‘s Alex Iwobi is likely to anchor the midfield alongside Wilfred Ndidi.

Nigeria (4-2-2-2, right to left): Nwabali (GK) — Fredrick, Ajayi, Bassey, Sanusi— Ndidi, Iwobi —  Chukwueze, Simon — Osimhen, Adams

Nigeria subs: Adebayo, Troost-Ekong, Arokodare, Onyeka, Onyemaechi, Abdullahi, Obasogie, Uche, Moffi, Olusegun.

For all the focus on Nigeria, Benin are in the box seat to make history and reach their first World Cup.

Former Huddersfield Town striker Steve Mounie will be supported in attack by experienced attacking midfielder Jodel Dossou. Both men scored when Benin won the reverse fixture 2-1.

Benin (4-2-3-1, right to left): Dandjinou (GK) — Ouorou, Verdon, Tijani, Roche — D’Almeida, Imourane — Dossou, Dokou, Hountondji — Mounie

Benin subs: Fassinou, Tessilimi, Ahlinvi, Rachidou, Ahouangbo, Amoussou, Allagbe, Olaitan Ishola, Dossou, Kossi, Samadou, Obassa.

Nigeria vs. Benin live stream, TV channel

Here is how to watch the match in some of the world’s major regions:

Region TV Streaming
USA — ESPN Select, ESPN App
Canada — FIFA+
UK — FIFA+
Australia — FIFA+
India — FIFA+
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