Nigeria Football Federation President Ibrahim Gusau has thrown his weight behind Super Eagles head coach Eric Chelle, insisting the Franco-Malian tactician will continue in charge following Nigeria’s third-place finish at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco.
Speaking after the tournament, Gusau said the national team had shown clear signs of progress under Chelle, adding that the federation remained committed to working with the coach as Nigeria seeks to build on the performance.
“The team is close to running on autopilot and will definitely achieve a lot of success under the present technical crew,” Gusau said via NFF, reflecting on Nigeria’s campaign.
“The NFF is proud of the team’s performance 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.”
Nigeria finished third at the tournament after defeating Egypt 4-2 on penalties in the bronze medal match, following a goalless draw in regulation time at the Stade Mohamed V in Casablanca on Saturday.
It marked the country’s ninth third-place finish at the Africa Cup of Nations and their 17th podium finish in 21 appearances at the tournament, with the only medal-less campaigns coming in 1963, 1982, 2008 and 2021.
