Benin vs Senegal: Cheetahs and Lions of Teranga set to contest AFCON 2025 Group D decider
by Devesh Jaganath | by Devesh Jaganath
Last-16 battle reaches boiling point on final day in Group D
Group D at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations is set to go down to the wire, with three teams, Senegal, DR Congo and Benin, still in the running to secure automatic qualification to the round of 16 of this year’s competition, and you can get all the key stats and insights in our AFCON 2025 predictions.
The Leopards arguably have the easiest passage to the knockout stage, as they will face winless Botswana in Rabat, and three points from that match will guarantee them a top-two finish, regardless of the outcome here in Tangier.
For Senegal, a win will ensure they remain top of the standings, while a draw could see them drop to second place if DR Congo beat Botswana. A loss may result in them slipping to third, as long as the Zebras do not pull off a massive upset in the other match in the group.
While the Teranga Lions are the favourites in this contest, our experts have not written off the Cheetahs in this clash, according to our Benin vs Senegal prediction. However, they expect plenty of high-quality, attacking football before the final whistle blows in Tangier.
Pape Thiaw’s side are unbeaten in the tournament coming into this fixture, having kicked off their campaign with a commanding 3-0 victory over Botswana before being held to an against-the-odds 1-1 draw by DR Congo at this venue this past weekend.
Gernot Rohr’s charges, on the other hand, suffered a 1-0 opening-round loss to the Leopards, but bounced back to keep their qualification hopes alive with a 1-0 victory over Dipitse, which was also their first-ever victory at the AFCON finals since making their debut back in 2004.
These sides met in the quarter-final of the 2019 AFCON, where Senegal secured a 1-0 victory. Across all competitions, they have faced off nine times, with the Teranga Lions winning seven, one match ending in a draw, and Benin earning one win, though that victory was way back in 1961.
Mounie vs Mane: Key players to watch in Group D finale
Benin were forced to play their opening match of the 2025 AFCON without five players due to suspension, including Junior Olaitan, Andreas Hountondji, Mohamed Tijani, Marcel Dandjinou and Steve Mounie, and ended up losing that fixture against the Leopards.
However, four of the aforementioned started the game against Botswana at the weekend, and the team looked much more balanced, with Mounie leading the line and Olaitan bombing down the right flank, which was one of the Cheetah’s strengths during qualifying.
Mounie got the assist for the only goal in that match, which Yohan Roche converted, and the Alanyaspor forward has now recorded four direct goal involvements in his last five games for his national team, underlining his importance to Rohr’s attack.
As for Senegal, while they may have one of the most impressive teams on paper, Sadio Mane remains the heart of their setup and scored the crucial equaliser against DR Congo at the weekend, marking his 10th goal at the Africa Cup of Nations.
The Al-Nassr attacker has now scored against nine different nations across five consecutive AFCON competitions, and Senegal have never lost a match in this competition when the 2021 Player of the Tournament has found the back of the net (W8 D1).
Aside from Mane, the Teranga Lions are spoilt for choice in attack, but Bayern Munich’s Nicolas Jackson is the current market leader with the best online betting sites to get on the scoresheet in this match after bagging a brace in the team’s opener against Botswana.
Notably, Crystal Palace forward Ismaila Sarr is listed as a doubt owing to an ongoing ankle issue, which could open the door for one of Ibrahim Mbaye, Habib Diallo or Cheikh Salaby to get the nod to start this match by Pape Thiaw.
