Benin coach Gernot Rohr declares support for Nigeria ahead of World Cup playoff

Head coach of the Benin national team Gernot Rohr has declared support for the Super Eagles of Nigeria ahead of the 2026 World Cup playoff.

The West African football heavyweights missed out on automatic World Cup qualification, and are set to participate in a playoff to determine their fate for the tournament to be staged in the USA, Canada and Mexico.

The playoff structure sees Nigeria face Gabon, while Cameroon takes on DR Congo. The winners will compete on November 16 for a spot in the intercontinental playoffs.

Few days to the commencement of the playoff in Morocco, Rohr, who previously managed Nigeria has thrown his weight behind them to qualify.

“Super Eagles have so many high level players and strikers, we tried against them but we could not do it,” he said. “We beat them during the qualifiers and it’s a result we were proud of but I will be supporting the Super Eagles in the playoffs.” He told Brila FM in an interview.

Rohr, who guided Nigeria to the 2018 World Cup in Russia and a third-place finish at the 2019 AFCON, said he remains proud of his time with the team and hopes to see them return to football’s biggest stage.