NFF Appoints Éric Sekou Chelle to Qualify Super Eagles for 2026 World Cup

*Immediate task is to lead Home-based Eagles to CHAN 2024 in East Africa

Duro Ikhazuagbe 

After months of searching for a befitting coach to resurrect Nigeria’s fading glory in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, the Executive Committee of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) on Tuesday night endorsed the choice of former Mali Head Coach, Eric Sekou Chelle, 47, as the right candidate to lead the Super Eagles to the promised land.

Chelle with no known pedigree in both continental and global football, has been saddled with the task of making the Super Eagles to win all their remaining six matches in the qualifying rounds of the 2026 Mundial. 

Eagles are presently fifth in the six-team standing on miserable three points. Rwanda, South Africa and Benin Republic lead the Group on seven points each while Lesotho are fourth on five points, two points better than Nigeria. Only Zimbabwe are behind Nigeria in Standings. This is the reality of the situation that the Ibrahim Musa Gusau led-NFF board has saddled a man with no capacity to turnaround.

In appointing the Chelle born in Côte d’Ivoire to a French father by a Malian mother, the NFF said in a statement last night that it was endorsing the recommendation of its Technical and Development Sub-Committee.

The 47-year-old who featured for Martigues, Valenciennes, Lens, Istres and Chamois Niortais in France during his playing career, led Mali close to a place in the semi-finals of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Côte d’Ivoire. Mali lost to hosts and eventual winners Cote d’Ivoire 2-1 after extra time, after leading by a lone goal until the final minute of regulation time.

The defence minded gaffer with preferred 4-3-1-2 playing formation, led Mali to beat Nigeria 2-0 in Morocco last year. He first showed interests in the Nigerian job barely weeks after Portuguese Jose Peseiro left the post. 

Ex international Finidi George was appointed but got fired after two games for poor results. Head of NFF’s Technical Department, Augustine Eguavoen was drafted to continue Eagles qualification rounds for AFCON 2025. He succeeded in getting the ticket for Nigeria with a game to spare but declined to continue the World Cup qualifiers starting next month with Eagles away trip to Rwanda  and home games against Zimbabwe same March.

In an earlier chat with NFF TV, NFF President, Gusau, insisted that Chelle’s immediate task will be to lead the Home-based Eagles to next month’s 2024 CHAN in East Africa.

“We have come out with the policy that whoever we employ as the Super Eagles will also be the one to manage the affairs of the CHAN Eagles,” Gusau said in that interview. “We want players from the domestic league to be injected into the Super Eagles.”