NFF appoints Bruno Labbadia as Super Eagles head coach

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has appointed Bruno Labbadia as the head coach of the Super Eagles.

The NFF said in a statement on Tuesday morning that it has reached an agreement with the German tactician.

Mohammed Sanusi, NFF general secretary, said: “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.”

Labbadia succeeds Finidi George who stepped down from the role in June — a few days after the NFF announced a plan to appoint a foreign technical adviser for the Super Eagles.

The former Enyimba FC manager, who was appointed in April 2024, managed only two competitive games as the Eagles coach.

Like George, Labbadia is a former player-turned-coach.

In his playing days, he was on the roster of FC Kaiserslautern, Bayern Munich, Darmstadt, Hamburger, FC Köln, Werder Bremen, Arminia Bielefeld and Karlsruher SC.

Labbadia won the German Bundesliga with Bayern Munich in 1994.

Upon retirement, he turned to coaching and would go on to manage Darmstadt, Greuther Fürth, Bayer Leverkusen, Hamburger SV, Hertha BSC, and Wolfsburg.

His last coaching job was as manager of Stuttgart. He was sacked in April 2023 after the team dropped to the last spot on the Bundesliga table.

Labbadia is the sixth German to be appointed the head coach of the Super Eagles.

He follows in the footsteps of compatriots; Karl-Heinz Marotzke, Gottlieb Göller, Manfred Höner, Berti Vogts and Gernot Rohr.

LABBADIA FACES TOUGH TESTS

Labbadi’s immediate challenge is to take charge of the Eagles for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifying matches. The qualifiers will kick off with a home game against Benin Republic on September 7 in Uyo before travelling to Rwanda three days later. Four other matches to conclude the qualifying race will be played in October and November.

Benin Republic are managed by Gernot Rohr, a former Eagles manager. The team had defeated Nigeria 2-1 in the last round of the 2026 World Cup qualification.

The Eagles are in a tight spot to qualify for the next World Cup. They are currently fifth in Group C and winless in four games.

Labbadia will have to do a tough job righting the impending shipwreck and getting Nigeria to the group’s summit for automatic World Cup qualification.