*Call For Chelle’s Sack
Head coach of Super Eagles, Eric Chelle, has said his team will not lack motivation ahead of their final two fixtures in the 2026 World Cup qualifying series.
Chelle was addressing the media following a 1-1 draw away to South Africa on Tuesday, September 9.
Bafana Bafana took the lead through William Troost-Ekong’s own goal, before Calvin Bassey headed in the equaliser before half-time.
Nigeria need to win all their remaining fixtures to stand a chance of qualifying even as only the top team in each group automatically qualifies with the runner-up navigating a playoff.
South Africa comfortably lead Nigeria’s group with Rwanda placed second while the Super Eagles are third.
Ahead of the remaining matches against Lesotho and Benin Republic in October, Chelle said: “My players are professionals and I know they will still want to win the remaining two games.
“A lot can happen over the next one month. But before that, we will have to analyse our performance tonight, which will not be easy.”
Following the match, supporters took to their X accounts to share their emotions on the game. Most expressed anger, calling for the sack of the Malian coach immediately.
Some comments from X:
@thornsport: “Firstly sack the coach for tactical blunder by playing Lookman out of position, playing Dessers ahead of Arokodare, playing Ekong who is aged and can’t hold the backline again. Super Eagles attack is nothing without Osimhen.”
@Stacktopack: “How can a nation of 200+ million football-mad people keep stumbling like this? Nigeria should be leading Africa, not scraping for qualifications. The problems are clear—bad leadership, poor planning, recycled coaches, and no accountability. Fix grassroots scouting, hire competent modern coaches, stop politics in selections, and build a real football structure. Until you clean house, we’ll keep embarrassing ourselves instead of being true “Giants of Africa.””
@Deucez144525: “The Super Eagles have fallen.”
@Jhokzy: “Hall of shame performance from the boys. They don’t deserve to qualify for the World Cup. A very useless team.”
PHOTO CAPTION: Chelle (left).
