Should Eric Chelle be sacked? The case for & against the Super Eagles coach

Two days on from the disappointing ouster to DR Congo, it is probably time to engage with the elephant in the room: does Eric Chelle, having fallen short of his 2026 World Cup mandate, deserve to remain in the post of Super Eagles coach?

The Malian took the reins in January 2025 with an express directive to right the listing Nigeria ship at a crucial period. Despite failing to chase down South Africa outright, he was handed a second crack via the CAF playoffs, where he once more fell short despite the three-time African champions being overwhelming favourites and the highest-ranked nation in the mini-tournament.

Here is an attempt to answer the thorny question from both sides of the argument.

The case to retain Eric Chelle

Since taking the role, the Malian has been in charge for 11 matches. In that span, he has yet to suffer defeat outright. (Penalty shootouts are logged as draws.) Statistically, of the three Super Eagles coaches through the World Cup qualifiers, Eric Chelle has comfortably the best points per game ratio (2.33) in the series, exempting the playoffs. While he did not fulfill his mandate to the letter, he came close enough that penalising him would be harsh in the utmost.

Leaving aside the results on the pitch, there is also the fact that the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) kicks off in just over a month. Any upheaval in the dugout would almost certainly be disastrous; the last time Nigeria made a coaching change this close to the AFCON, they suffered their earliest exit from the competition in 40 years.

Surely, a better course of action would be to let him take charge of the tournament, and then evaluate afterward?

The case to fire Eric Chelle

Whatever one could say in Eric Chelle’s defence, the bare truth of it is that he did not do what he was employed to do. The unspoken of his imperative was that he needed to win all six qualifiers; he ended up winning four. Had he won five, Nigeria would have punched a ticket to the World Cup. Easy peasy.

The argument that he is still undefeated falls down slightly when you consider that it was not necessarily defeats that had put Nigeria in a difficult position to begin with, but a lack of wins.

The reason for that inability to convert draws to wins was, ostensibly, the injury-enforced absences of talisman Victor Osimhen over the first four matches. Chelle has a much stronger 2026 WCQ record as Super Eagles coach than Jose Peseiro or Finidi George, but arguably only because he was the only one of the three who had the services of Osimhen.

There is also his proneness to panicking under pressure, which might not bode well at a major tournament. One has only to remember the last time he coached at the AFCON, and the viral meme it birthed, to understand this.