Football in Benin

Football in Benin
Governing body	Benin Football Federation
National team(s)	national football team
Club competitions
Benin Premier League
International competitions
Champions League CAF Confederation Cup Super Cup FIFA Club World Cup FIFA World Cup(National Team) African Cup of Nations(National Team)

Young motivated Beninese player

Association football, or soccer, is the most popular sport in Benin. Governed by the Benin Football Federation, the Benin national football team (Les Ecureuils ) joined both FIFA and CAF in 1969 as Dahomey.^[1][2] Dahomey became Benin in 1975.

Les Ecureuils

Les Ecureuils (The Squirrels, as the national squad is nicknamed) have never qualified for the World Cup and made their only appearance in the African Cup of Nations in 2004.^[3][4] They enjoyed their highest world ranking as of September 2007 with a rank of 79th in the world. The home stadium is Stade de l'Amitié in Cotonou. In the 2010s, the national team nickname was changed to the Cheetahs.^[5]

Notable Beninese footballers

• Romuald Boco
• Laurent D'Jaffo
• Moussa Latoundji
• Stéphane Sessègnon^[6]
• Rudy Gestede

Football stadiums in Benin

The Stade de l'Amitié is currently the largest stadium by capacity in Benin. It is used by the national football team of Benin.

#	Stadium	City	Capacity	Tenants	Image
1	Stade de l'Amitié	Cotonou	20,000	Benin national football team
2	Stade Charles de Gaulle	Porto-Novo	15,000	AS Dragons FC de l'Ouémé
3	Stade René Pleven d'Akpakpa	Cotonou	15,000	Requins de l'Atlantique FC

See also

• Lists of stadiums

References

1. "Benin: with voodoo on our side - Balls to Africa". FourFourTwo. 2010-06-07. Archived from the original on 2013-08-05. Retrieved 2013-08-15.
2. Ph.D, Toyin Falola; Jean-Jacques, Daniel (14 December 2015). Africa: An Encyclopedia of Culture and Society [3 volumes]: An Encyclopedia of Culture and Society. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9781598846669. Retrieved 22 November 2016 – via Google Books.
3. "Benin's nickname change from Squirrels to Cheetahs awaits approval". The Star.
4. Football, CAF-Confedération Africaine du. "Benin enjoying historic moment among big guns". CAFOnline.com.
5. "No more Squirrels: Benin football team change their nickname to Cheetahs". The Guardian. August 22, 2022.
6. "Stéphane Sessègnon back with the cheetahs and raring to go". FIFA. Retrieved 21 May 2023.