Former German international Bruno Labbadia has been appointed as Nigeria's new coach, marking the third time this year the position has been filled. The Nigeria Football Federation announced his appointment on social media on Tuesday, stating it was effective immediately but did not provide details about the contract's duration. Labbadia will take the helm just 12 days before Nigeria begins their 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign with a Group D match against Benin in Uyo. The team will also face Rwanda away three days later.
At 58, Labbadia is an experienced Bundesliga coach, having managed teams like Bayer Leverkusen, Hamburg, VfB Stuttgart, VfL Wolfsburg, and Hertha Berlin. This will be his first coaching role outside Germany. He replaces Finidi George, who managed the team for four games earlier this year. Labbadia, who earned two caps for Germany and played as a striker for clubs including Bayern Munich, will focus on qualifying the Super Eagles for the next Cup of Nations finals, to be held in Morocco in late 2025.
Nigeria is seeded at the top of their group, which also includes Libya, with the top two teams advancing. However, starting next March, Labbadia will face a more challenging task as Nigeria resumes World Cup qualifying. They are currently winless in their first four games in African qualifying Group C and are in fifth place out of six teams, although they have six more matches to play in their quest to win the group and secure a spot at the 2026 finals in North America.
Nigeria's start has been unexpectedly poor, especially considering their strong performance in reaching the Cup of Nations final in the Ivory Coast earlier this year. Their Portuguese coach, Jose Peseiro, was not offered a contract renewal despite their best performance at the African championship since winning in 2013, and he left immediately after the tournament. Nigeria has had a series of foreign coaches, including former German World Cup winner Berti Vogts, experienced Serb Bora Milutinovic, and Brazilian Otto Gloria, but the coaching role is known to be one of the toughest in African sports due to demanding fans and frequent administrative issues.
Nigeria has won the African championship three times and has qualified for six of the last eight World Cups, although they missed the last finals in Qatar in 2022.
