Football: Nigeria Football Federation set huge target for Eric Chelle at 2025 Africa Cup of Nations
NFF targeting top-four placement at AFCON 2025
After the massive disappointment of failing to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, pressure is firmly stacked on Eric Chelle and the Nigerian football team to produce a deep run at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco.
The Super Eagles have been drawn in Group C for the competition, alongside Tanzania, Tunisia and Uganda, and we will be covering all the matches from this section in our Africa Cup of Nations predictions throughout the tournament.
According to reports in recent days, Chelle was summoned to attend a meeting with the Nigeria Football Federation on Monday in Abuja, where the Federation’s Technical Committee set what they described as a “realistic” target for the Super Eagles for the continental showpiece.
It is understood that the NFF have tasked their Malian head coach with reaching at least the semi-final of the competition. Nigeria finished as runners-up in the previous edition of the AFCON, losing the final to tournament hosts Ivory Coast.
Further reports revealed that the committee members affirmed that they are not the favourites for the AFCON this year, and acknowledged that the Super Eagles are undergoing a phase of rebuilding following their World Cup disappointment.
Chelle facing major setbacks ahead of 2025 AFCON
Last week, Eric Chelle released his 54-man preliminary list for the 2025 AFCON, which included all of the nation’s biggest stars, such as Victor Osimhen, Ademola Lookman, Alex Iwobi and Samuel Chukwueze.
Chelle is expected to trim his list to the final 28 players at some point this week, but the head coach may be forced into late changes following a few recent developments around individuals that were widely expected to make the final cut.
Arguably, the biggest setback for the Super Eagles came in the past week, when team captain William Troost-Ekong announced his retirement from international football, leaving Chelle with a huge void to fill in central defence.
Adding to the team’s defensive issues, Benjamin Fredrick has now been ruled out entirely for the competition after sustaining a knee injury at Dender EH in the Belgian Pro League, while Felix Agu and Ola Aina are still listed as major doubts.
The latest setback for Nigeria now comes in the goalkeeping department, with Stanley Nwabali missing his last three league games for Chippa United. Vusimuzi Vilakazi, head coach of Chippa, revealed to the media over the weekend that he “is doubtful” that Nwabali will be back in time for the Super Eagles’ departure to Morocco.
