U-20 Women’s World Cup (Q): Benin buoyed by Romaine Gandonou against Guinea

Benin’s U-20 Amazons took a major step forward in their bid to reach the second round of qualifying for the 2026 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, scheduled for 2026 in Poland. On Friday, they secured an emphatic 4–1 victory over Guinea’s Syli Women at the Kégué Stadium in Lomé.

The first-leg encounter of the opening round quickly swung in Benin’s favour, despite the team conceding the opening goal. In the 5th minute, Mariama Soumah capitalised on a defensive error to hand Guinea the lead.

The Beninese response was immediate. Just six minutes later, Romaine Gandonou levelled the score at 1–1, bringing her team right back into the contest and piling pressure on the Guinean defence. Auriane Mouayedon put Benin ahead in the 15th minute, before Sam Nelly forward Gandonou struck again to make it 3–1 at half-time.

After the restart, the match was balanced for the first ten minutes. However, Gandonou’s relentless pressure on the Guinean backline paid off once more as she completed her hat-trick in the 58th minute. She then capped off a stellar individual performance with a fourth personal goal in the 86th minute.

Despite a few attempts to get back into the game, Guinea were unable to close the gap. Benin finished the match with a commanding four-goal advantage ahead of the return leg away from home.

2026 U-20 Women’s World Cup Qualifying Results

Second Round, First Leg

Botswana 2-0 Mozambique

Eswatini 0-5 South Africa

Uganda 3-0 Namibia

Burundi 1-2 Zambia

Equatorial Guinea 1-0 Egypt

Benin 5-1 Guinea