Association football, or soccer, is the most popular sport in Benin. Governed by the

Benin Football Federation The Benin Football Federation () is the governing body of association football in Benin. It was founded in 1960, affiliated to CAF in 1962 and to FIFA in 1964. It organizes the national football leagues, including the Benin Premier League, and ...

, the

Benin national football team The Benin national football team ( French: Équipe nationale de Football du Bénin), nicknamed ''Les Guépards (The Cheetahs)'', represents Benin in men's international association football and are controlled by the Benin Football Federation. T ...

(Les Ecureuils ) joined both

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

and

CAF CAF or caf may refer to: Armed forces *Canadian Armed Forces (Canadian Forces), the Canadian Air Force, Army, and Navy *Canadian Air Force, now the Royal Canadian Air Force *Republic of China Air Force, the air force of the Republic of China (Tai ...

in 1969 as

Dahomey The Kingdom of Dahomey () was a West African List of kingdoms in Africa throughout history, kingdom located within present-day Benin that existed from approximately 1600 until 1904. It developed on the Abomey Plateau amongst the Fon people in ...

. Dahomey became

Benin Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its po ...

in 1975.

Les Ecureuils

Les Ecureuils (The Squirrels, as the national squad is nicknamed) have never qualified for the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

and made their only appearance in the

African Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations, commonly abbreviated as AFCON and officially known as the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. It is s ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

. 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 Stade de l'Amitie or Friendship Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Cotonou, Benin. It is currently used for football (soccer), football matches and also has facilities for sport of athletics, athletics.Romuald Boco Romuald Boco (born 8 July 1985) is a former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Born in France, he has represented Benin at full international level. Club career Accrington Stanley Born in Bernay, Eure, Boco signed for Accringto ...

Laurent D'Jaffo Laurent Mayaba D'Jaffo (born 5 November 1970) is a retired footballer. Born in France, he represented Benin internationally. D'Jaffo was born in France but moved to Africa when he was two years old. He moved back to France when he was fourtee ...

Moussa Latoundji Moussa Latoundji (born 13 August 1978) is a Beninese former football player and current assistant manager side Benin national football team. Club career Born in Porto-Novo, Latoudji started his career in his native Benin with amateur side Dra ...

Stéphane Sessègnon Stéphane Sessègnon (born 1 June 1984) is a Beninese professional Association football, footballer who last played for Sirens F.C., Sirens in the Maltese Premier League. He is a Benin national football team, Benin international, having repres ...

Rudy Gestede Rudy Philippe Michel Camille Gestede (born 10 October 1988) is a former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is currently head of football operations at Blackburn Rovers. After coming through the youth ranks at Metz, Gestede spe ...

Football stadiums in Benin

The

Stade de l'Amitié Stade de l'Amitie or Friendship Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Cotonou, Benin. It is currently used for football (soccer), football matches and also has facilities for sport of athletics, athletics.Lists of stadiums The following are lists of stadiums throughout the world. Note that horse racing and motorsport venues are not included at some pages, because those are not stadiums but sports venues. Combined lists *List of stadiums by capacity * List of c ...

References

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