Eric Chelle, who was appointed as the head coach of the Nigeria national team, stated that he is not concerned about the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations. Instead, he is focusing on preparing his team for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
In the draw held yesterday for the 2025 AFCON, Nigeria was placed in a group with Tunisia, Tanzania, and Uganda. The Franco-Malian coach was asked about Nigeria’s chances of advancing from the group. He responded with the following:
“There is no little team in the AFCON, you need to be focused. Right now, I’m focused on my players, on my team and on March,” he said. “We need to be focused on the World Cup Qualifiers. Then in October, we will think about the AFCON. But now, we need to win two games in March.”
Currently, Nigeria has earned 3 points from 4 games in the World Cup qualifiers. The Super Eagles are in 5th place in Group C.
Nigeria still has 6 more matches to play, with the potential to earn an additional 18 points. They will face Rwanda and Zimbabwe in March.
If Chelle’s team manages to collect 6 points from these two matches, they will gain significant momentum for advancing to the next round.