2026 World Cup Qualifiers: Lesotho vs Benin— Preview

Lesotho turned in an impressive team display as they held their own to see out a 1-1 draw against a star-studded Nigeria side in the Group C curtain-raiser last Thursday.

While Leslie Notsi will be impressed with his side’s result, considering that they sit 113 places below Nigeria in the latest FIFA World Ranking, they have now failed to win their last three matches, picking up one draw and losing twice, including a 1-0 defeat against Zambia in the COSAFA Cup final back in July.

The Crocodiles also suffered a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Ivory Coast in their final game of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, where they finished rock-bottom in Group H with just one point from six matches.

Percy Tau and Khuliso Mudau scored first-half goals to set the Bafana Bafana on their way to all three points at the Moses Mabhida Stadium before Steve Mounie halved the deficit in the 70th minute.

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This was in keeping with their disappointing AFCON qualifying campaign as the Cheetahs won just one of their six matches in Group B to finish third with just five points from a possible 18.

Benin have now failed to qualify for the last two editions of the AFCON tournament, with their last appearance at the continental showpiece coming in 2019, when they reached the quarter-finals before losing 1-0 against eventual runners-up Senegal.

Gernot Rohr’s men have now failed to win their last 13 matches across all competitions, losing eight and claiming five draws since a 4-0 friendly victory over Liberia in March 2022.