Nigeria draws Rwanda once again and the Benin Republic, while Libya completes the AFCON qualifying group

The Super Eagles have a chance to exact revenge against the Benin Republic’s Cheetahs, who defeated them in the 2026 World Cup qualifying round.

Both teams are once again grouped in the same group for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, which kicks off in two months, giving the Super Eagles an early chance to exact revenge for their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification loss to the Cheetahs of Benin Republic in Abidjan last month.

Their FIFA World Cup qualifying rematch isn’t until the last day of the qualification series, which is October 6–14, 2025. However, both teams have much earlier matches to fight in order to qualify for the 35th Africa Cup of Nations, which will take place in Morocco from December 21, 2025, to January 18, 2026.

The Super Eagles also drew the Mediterranean Knights of Libya and the Amavubi of Rwanda, a team that is part of their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying group and whom they will play in the series in March 2025, at the draw ceremony held inside the SuperSport studio in Johannesburg, South Africa on Thursday afternoon. Each of the four teams is in Group D.

Two matches in each of the three FIFA windows (September, October, and November) comprise the six-match qualifying series.

GROUP A: The Gambia, Comoros, Madagascar, and Tunisia

GROUP B: Lesotho, Gabon, Morocco, Central African Republic

GROUP C: Botswana, Mauritania, Egypt, and Cape Verde

GROUP D: Rwanda, Libya, Nigeria, and the Benin Republic

GROUP E: Equatorial Guinea, Liberia, Togo, Algeria

GROUP F: Niger Republic, Sudan, Angola, and Ghana

GROUP G: Sierra Leone, Chad, Zambia, and Cote d’Ivoire

DR Congo, Guinea, Tanzania, Ethiopia make up Group H.

GROUP I: Guinea-Bissau, Eswatini, Mali, and Mozambique

GROUP J: Zimbabwe, Namibia, Kenya, and Cameroon

GROUP K: Congo, South Sudan, Uganda, South Africa

GROUP L: Burundi, Malawi, Senegal, and Burkina Faso