The Cheetahs, upon their return to the continental showpiece, are in Group D alongside giants Senegal, DR Congo, and Botswana.
After reaching the quarterfinals of the AFCON in 2019, Benin failed to qualify for the next two editions.
However, Aiyegun is optimistic that the team has enough talent now to pull off a surprise in Morocco.
“It's football, anything can happen. We work hard. We have many young players. We just hope that we can go further at the 2025 AFCON,” he told Flashscore in an exclusive interview facilitated by Ligue 1.
The Lorient striker has been playing for Benin since March 2022 and has four goals in 19 caps. He was born in Nigeria to a Nigerian father and a Beninese mother.
“I have both passports (Nigeria and Benin) so I decided to play for Benin because, I grew up there, so I wanted to play for Benin,” he said.
Both countries were drawn into the same group for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. Benin went into the final matchday top of the group, on the brink of qualification, but were outclassed by Nigeria.
“For Benin, if we qualified to the 2026 World Cup it would be very good. It would have been be history for Benin. It's part of the game. We keep working. I hope maybe one day Benin will be at the World Cup because this is our dream.”
One of the brains behind the rise in Benin football is former Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr, a man who Aiyegun describes as one of the best coaches he’s worked with.
“Gernot Rohr is one of the best coach I have worked with. He tries to give more opportunities to the young players and I'm very happy and I hope we can achieve something all together with him."
Aiyegun and Nigeria begin their 2025 AFCON campaign with a tricky game against the semi-finalists of the previous edition in DR Congo.
