Super Eagles Will Be Great Under Chelle – NFF President

Nigeria Football Federation President Ibrahim Gusau has expressed confidence that the Super Eagles will achieve success under Eric Chelle following the team’s third place finish at the 2025 Nations Cup.

After missing out on the 2026 World Cup, Eric Chelle led the team to a ninth bronze medal finish in Morocco.

Gusau opined that the team’s future is bright following their impressive outing in Morocco.

He said: “Actually, when we landed in Morocco towards the end of last year, our objective was to win the AFCON trophy and be the champions of Africa.

“Today, we finished in third place and won the bronze medals instead. We missed our target but my joy is in the way our team played. They have played with zest and patriotic fervour, and showed resilience and character.

“Big kudos to the huge support and motivation that we continue to receive from the Federal Government, through the National Sports Commission. Without the support of His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR and the Government as a whole, we would not have been able to do anything.

“The NFF is proud of the team’s campaign and will continue to do its best to encourage, support and motivate the team as we go forward. As the head of a hard-working technical crew, Mr. Chelle has done exceedingly well within the one year he has been with us. He has shown enormous capacity and we will continue to work with him.”

Chelle has won 11 games, and drawn six out his first 17 competitive matches in charge of the Super Eagles. He is currently unbeaten in competitive encounters.

Gusau also revealed that the preparations for the next Nations Cup in 2027 has started.

He said: “The journey to the next AFCON starts immediately (in March). We do not have the luxury of time to continue dwelling on what we have done here. We must set to work immediately.

“For now, we are excited about the squad that we have. Remember also that a couple of very good players missed the tournament as a result of injury. The bottomline is that the future looks very bright.”

Victory on Saturday meant Nigeria has now mounted the podium in 17 of its 21 appearances at the AFCON.