Moses Simon, a forward for the Super Eagles, sent a greeting in French to Eric Chelle, the new head coach, after the Nigeria Football Federation appointed the Mali tactician on Tuesday.
The Nantes winger became the first member of the national team to openly acknowledge Chelle’s hiring when he posted “Bienvenue au Nigeria” (Welcome to Nigeria) on his X account.
The NFF said that the former Mali coach would immediately take over as Augustine Eguavoen’s replacement, as the Eagles look to turn around their struggling 2026 World Cup qualification campaign.
Eguavoen, who had been acting as interim head coach since September 2024 after Finidi George resigned and Bruno Labbadia’s planned hiring fell through, is replaced by Chelle.
Simon, who has played in three Africa Cup of Nations competitions and achieved over 70 caps for Nigeria since his debut in 2015, hopes the new manager can improve the team’s performance in the World Cup qualifying events.
After four games without a victory, the three-time African champions are currently in fifth place in their qualification group, meaning they have a long way to go before they can qualify for the 2026 World Cup, which will be co-hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
In March 2025, the qualifications will resume with important games against Zimbabwe and Rwanda, who shocked everyone by defeating Nigeria 2-1 in Uyo in November.
It would be disastrous for Nigerian football to miss out on a second consecutive mundial after losing to Ghana in the playoffs and missing out on the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Even though Eguavoen led the Eagles to victory in their 2025 AFCON qualifying campaign, beating out a group that included Rwanda, Libya, and the Benin Republic, the NFF eventually sought a new captain due to the team’s World Cup qualification difficulties.
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