Benin will return to international football for the first in almost two years as a guest team at the Amilcar Cabral Cup next month in Mali.

Football in Benin has been dogged with Fifa and Caf suspensions, FA dissolutions and postponement of the local championship since 1998.

The national league has resumed its second full season last Sunday, but the national team�s trip to Mali will be a rare appearance in international football.

Benin will replace Guinea in Group A of the bi-annual Cabral Cup, which will kick off on November 3 in Bamako.

On the opening day, Benin will play Guinea Bissau before clashing with Mauritania and hosts Mali, who are using the Cabral Cup as a dress rehearsal for the African Nations Cup finals in January.

Guinea are among the eight permanent teams of the regional tournament and were due to host the competition this time, but a Fifa ban earlier this year has ruled them out of participating.