Patrick Ngwaogu 

 

President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Ibrahim Musa Gusau, has expressed strong optimism about the future of the Super Eagles, declaring that the team’s third-place finish at the 35th Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) signals a major turning point after the disappointment of consecutive FIFA World Cup qualification failures.

 

Gusau said the performance of the three-time African champions in Morocco showed a team rediscovering its identity and preparing to scale greater heights under the current technical leadership.

 

“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,” Gusau said. “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.”

 

Nigeria secured the bronze medal after a dramatic penalty shootout victory over Egypt in Casablanca, capping an impressive campaign that saw the Super Eagles unbeaten in regulation time throughout the tournament.

 

According to Gusau, the team is now close to running on “auto-pilot” and is poised for sustained success under Franco-Malian coach Éric Sékou Chelle, who took charge in January last year during a difficult World Cup qualifying campaign.

 

The NFF boss also showered praise on the Federal Government for its continued support of Nigerian football.

 

“Big kudos to the huge support and motivation that we continue to receive from the Federal Government, through the National Sports Commission,” Gusau said. “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.”

 

He added that the federation remains fully committed to backing the team and the technical crew.

 

“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.”

 

Gusau’s endorsement of the 48-year-old tactician comes amid growing public support for Nigeria to retain Chelle, who has overseen a remarkable turnaround in fortunes. In one year, Chelle has led the Super Eagles in 18 competitive matches without defeat, steering the team from a seemingly hopeless World Cup qualification position to a playoff berth.

 

Although Nigeria narrowly missed out on a World Cup ticket and an AFCON final via penalty shootouts, the same route delivered the country’s ninth AFCON bronze medal at the Stade Mohamed V in Casablanca.

 

“If you coach Nigeria, you must win everything,” Chelle told CAFonline two months ago, a philosophy that has guided his work. Under his leadership, Nigeria have won 11 of 17 competitive matches, drawing the remaining six in regulation time.

 

At AFCON 2025, Chelle guided the Super Eagles to their highest-ever goal tally at a single edition of the tournament, scoring 14 goals and producing dominant displays against continental heavyweights including Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco and Egypt. Tanzania and Uganda, co-hosts of the next AFCON finals, were also convincingly beaten.

 

The goal output marked a significant improvement on Nigeria’s previous AFCON-winning campaigns, where the team scored eight goals in 1980, nine in 1994 and 11 in 2013.

 

Looking ahead, Gusau emphasized that preparations for future challenges must begin immediately.

 

“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,” he said. “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.”

 

Nigeria’s victory over Egypt also reinforced its strong AFCON pedigree, with the Super Eagles now finishing on the podium in 17 of their 21 tournament appearances. The only editions where Nigeria failed to win a medal were in 1963, 1982, 2008 and 2021.

 

With renewed confidence, a settled technical crew and growing belief among stakeholders, the Super Eagles appear firmly back on an upward trajectory.