The Nigeria Football Federation have announced Eric Chelle as new Nigeria Super Eagles head coach, MySportDab reports.
A statement from the NFF confirming the appointment of the former Mali head coach as the new boss reads;
“The Executive Committee of the Nigeria Football Federation has endorsed the recommendation of its Technical and Development Sub-Committee for the appointment of Mr. Éric Sékou Chelle as Head Coach of Nigeria’s senior men national football team, Super Eagles.”
The appointment of Chelle as Super Eagles head coach ends the dragging managerial saga that engulfed the team.
The Nigeria Super Eagles have been without a head coach after indigenous hand and legendary international Finidi George resigned as manager following a fallout with the NFF.
The emergence of Chelle heralds a new chapter for the Super Eagles whose immediate task will be to help the team qualify for the 2026 World Cup.
Meanwhile, unlike his predecessors, Chelle has a moderate and not-so-stellar managerial profile.
He is a former Mali international and had made just 5 international appearances for Mali and 345 club appearances for French lower division clubs playing as a center-back and scoring 11 goals.
He called time on his playing career in 2014 and took up a managerial role that same year with French sixth division side GS Consalet.
From Consolat, Chelle managed his former club – another French side – FC Martigues before joining Boulogne in 2021.
A year later, he was appointed Mali national team head coach and led the team to the 2023 AFCON Quarterfinals where they lost 2-1 to eventual winners Ivory Coast.
He was dismissed from the role in 2024 after the following Mali’s struggles in the ongoing 2026 World Cup Qualifiers with Nigeria Super Eagles becoming his fifth stop in his managerial career.
The 47-year-old is expected to revive Nigeria’s hope of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup with the team, who are winless in the first four games, set to trade tackles with group leaders Rwanda and Mozambique in March 2025 in the competition.
