The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has confirmed the appointment of Éric Sékou Chelle as Head Coach of the Super Eagles.
Chelle’s appointment takes effect immediately, and his main task is to lead the Super Eagles to the 2026 FIFA World Cup finals, according to the NFF.
The federation stated that they made the decision to hire a foreign coach for the Eagles during their meeting in Abuja on Thursday, 2 January 2025.
The NFF Technical and Development Sub-Committee recommended the appointment of the former coach of Mali’s senior men’s national team.
His first games will be the 2026 World Cup qualifiers matchdays five and six in March.
Chelle, who is 47 years old, won five caps for Mali’s Aiglons. He has also coached clubs such as GS Consolat, FC Martigues, Boulogne, and MC Oran.
He has been Head Coach of the Aiglons since 2022, but was dismissed on 13 June 2024.
As a player, Chelle played for Martigues, Valenciennes, Lens, Istres, and Chamois Niortais in France.
At the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations finals in Côte d’Ivoire, Chelle led Mali to the semi-finals. They lost to the hosts and eventual winners Côte d’Ivoire 2-1 after extra time.