After months of anxious wait, since Finidi George resigned, the NFF has announced a foreign manager to lead the Super Eagles.
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has appointed German tactician Bruno Labbadia as the new Head Coach of the Super Eagles.
The German has big shoes to fill after the departure of Finidi George, who resigned from his position just two games into his tenure following a disastrous start to the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign.
Announcing the appointment, NFF General Secretary Dr. Mohammed stated that the NFF Executive Committee approved the recommendation of its Technical and Development Sub-Committee.
"The NFF Executive Committee has approved the recommendation of its Technical and Development Sub-Committee to appoint Mr. Bruno Labbadia as the Head Coach of the Super Eagles. The appointment is with immediate effect," he said.
Who is the new coach Super Eagles?
The new coach of the Super Eagles is Bruno Labbadia. He is a former German international with experience coaching top clubs like Bayer Leverkusen, Hertha Berlin, and VfB Stuttgart.
The highly experienced Bruno Labbadia was born in Darmstadt, Germany, on February 8, 1966 and holds a UEFA Pro License. During his playing career, he made two appearances for the German national team (Die Mannschaft).
He played for clubs such as Darmstadt 98, Hamburger SV, FC Kaiserslautern, Bayern Munich, FC Cologne, Werder Bremen, Armenia Bielefeld, and Karlsruher SC. He won the German Bundesliga with Bayern Munich as a player in 1994.
Bruno Labbadia will be the sixth German coach to lead the Super Eagles. He follows Karl-Heinz Marotzke (two stints between 1970 and 1974), Gottlieb Göller (1981), Manfred Höner (1988-1989), Berti Vogts (2007-2008), and Gernot Rohr (2016-2021).
Höner led the Super Eagles to the runner-up position at the 1988 Africa Cup of Nations, while Rohr qualified Nigeria for the 2018 FIFA World Cup finals in Russia.
Labbadia's immediate test is to lead the Super Eagles in two 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying matches against Benin Republic on Saturday, September 7th in Uyo and Rwanda on Tuesday, September 10th in Kigali.
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