The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has officially appointed Éric Sékou Chelle as the new Head Coach of the Super Eagles. This appointment, effective immediately, comes with a clear mandate: to lead the Super Eagles to the 2026 FIFA World Cup finals.
Chelle’s appointment was recommended by the NFF Technical and Development Sub-Committee during a meeting held in Abuja on January 2, 2025. The decision to hire a foreign coach reflects the federation’s commitment to revitalizing the Super Eagles’ performance on the international stage.
Éric Chelle, though not a household name like George Weah or Samuel Eto’o, has a respectable football career. He played for the Mali senior national team five times and spent most of his club career in France, playing for teams such as Martigues, Valenciennes, Lens, Istres, and Chamois Niortais. As a coach, Chelle has managed several clubs in the French lower leagues and was appointed as the national team coach of Mali in 2022. Under his leadership, Mali reached the quarter-finals of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) before losing to the host nation, Côte d’Ivoire.
Chelle’s coaching journey has been marked by resilience and strategic acumen. His emotional reaction after Mali’s loss in the 2023 AFCON quarter-finals, where he was seen being doused with water by his players, became one of the tournament’s highlights. Despite being sacked in June 2024, Chelle’s coaching prowess did not go unnoticed, leading to his current role with the Super Eagles.
The task ahead for Chelle is daunting. Nigeria is currently in fifth place in Group C of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, with only three points after struggling against teams like Benin and Lesotho. Chelle’s first set of games will be the crucial matchdays five and six of the World Cup qualifiers in March. Whether he can work his magic and lead the Super Eagles to success remains to be seen
