2026 World Cup qualifiers: draw against Lesotho, Benin trailing “bad luck” according to Gernot Rohr

2023-11-22 17:30:48

Facing Lesotho on the second day of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, Benin drew and found themselves at the back of the pack. The coach of the Beninese Cheetahs felt that his selection was suffering “bad luck”.

The remarks made by the coach of Benin, after the match played against the Lesotho Crocodiles at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban, South Africa this November 21, 2023, sound like a cry of despair or disappointment. Gernot Rohr likens the failure of the Cheépards in front of goals to a “boys”. According to the Franco-German technician, his foals dominated the Lesotho selection from start to finish and had numerous opportunities, but without being able to materialize them on this second day of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

Facing the press, Gernot Rohr regrets the score (0-0) which sanctioned the meeting:

“It was the best match since I was with Benin. In terms of the game and the number of chances we created, it lacked realism, but it also lacked a bit of success. I believe that there are people in the country who are gray-haired; you will have to find out. Can we find someone to take this bad luck off us? Because at one point it felt like we could do whatever we wanted, but the ball wouldn’t go in. It even bounced in front of the empty goal to go over the crossbar. We were really wondering what to do. We can’t play better than what we did during 1 hour of this match, but we really lacked realism and a little success”.

Benin at the back of the pack

Before the Lesotho Crocodiles on Tuesday November 21, Cheetahs lost to South Africa’s Bafana Bafana (1-2) on Saturday November 18, 2023 during the first day of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. Which gives the Beninese the record: a defeat and a draw in two matches.

This result places Benin in the last position in the classification of group C in which it is housed with Rwanda, head of the pack. The group ranking:

1. Rwanda : 4 pts (+2)

2. South Africa: 3 pts (-1)

3. Nigeria: 2 points (0)

4. Lesotho : 2 pts (0)

5. Zimbabwe : 2 pts (0)

6. Benin: 1 pt (-1)

For the 3rd and 4th days of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, Benin will host Rwanda and Nigeria in June 2024.
While waiting for these meetings, the Benin senior football team ends the year 2023 with zero victories on the clock, including the CAN 2023 qualifiers.