Nigeria beats Benin to qualify for African Nations Championship

The Nigerian national volleyball team secured their spot at the 2026 African Nations Championship with a 3-1 comeback victory over Benin Republic.

The Nigerian national volleyball team secured their spot at the 2026 African Nations Championship in DR Congo with a 3-1 comeback victory over Benin Republic on July 17. The impressive win extended their unbeaten run at the Zone 3 qualifiers in Ivory Coast.

The victory is a testament to the team’s resilience and quality. Nigeria has consistently been one of the top volleyball nations in Africa, and qualification for the African Nations Championship further validates that status.

This echoes the 2010s volleyball success, when Nigeria consistently qualified for major tournaments. The mechanism then was different, but the result was the same: Nigerian volleyball proving its continental credentials.

The winners: the Nigerian volleyball team, which has qualified for the championship, and Nigerian sports fans, who have a team to support. The losers: Benin Republic, which lost, and the Nigerian Volleyball Federation, which must build on this success.

Bottom Line: Nigeria is going to the African Nations Championship. The team is unbeaten. The question is whether they can go all the way.