AFCON 2025: “Benin is no longer just making up the numbers,” says government

Knocked out in the round of 16 by Egypt (3-1), Benin’s Cheetahs leave the 2025 AFCON in Morocco with plenty of reasons for satisfaction and fresh ambitions.

During the press briefing following the Council of Ministers on Wednesday, January 21, 2026, spokesperson Wilfried Léandre Houngbédji praised the progress made while setting ambitious goals for the future:

Getting out of the group stage for only the second time in our history is a significant achievement. But since we already tasted the quarterfinals in 2019, we were hoping to get back there, or even go further.

For the government, the 2025 AFCON proves that the efforts made over the past several years are starting to pay off:

Consistent work is beginning to bear fruit. We’re no longer just making up the numbers, and that’s remarkable.

Confident in the momentum, Wilfried Léandre Houngbédji concluded:

With the support of the state and the work being done in schools and clubs, our Cheetahs of today will become true Cheetahs, a real threat to any team. And that means we’ll go even further than the quarterfinals.

Aliou Toundé |

Editorfr