The Lions, the Panthers, the Elephants, the Crocodiles, the Eagles, the Stallions, the Fennecs, the Leopard, the ferocious Zombie-Hyenas from Hell…. this is a small selection of the intimidating nicknames of Africa’s national teams (well, the latter maybe not so much).

Benin also decided to come up with their own moniker: The Squirrels!?

It is beyond me, why someone would choose such a tame name, when there is a plethora of dangerous local animals to choose from! At least the national team managed to play above all expectations, their name would suggest: currently ranked at 82th place in the FIFA rankings, Benin has accomplished to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations four times. This year’s iteration (2019) has been their most successful, when they reached the quarter-finals where they lost 0-1 against Senegal.