2026 WCQ: Eric Chelle List 2 Criteria for NPFL Players to Make Super Eagles Squad After CHAN
- Nigeria will play their final match of the 2024 African Nations Championship (CHAN) against Congo
- The home-based Eagles are yet to pick up a point or score a goal after losing 1-0 to Senegal and 4-0 to Sudan
- Head coach Eric Chelle has assessed the local players ahead of next month's 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier
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Super Eagles head coach Eric Chelle has assessed the home-based players ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Rwanda and South Africa next month.
Chelle took charge of the home-based Eagles at the ongoing African Nations Championship (CHAN) despite Daniel Ogunmodede and Fidelis Ilechukwu overseeing the qualifiers.
Source: Twitter
The decision has backfired after poor results have piled pressure on the manager, with some Nigerians calling for him to be sacked by the NFF.
CHAN Eagles lost the opening match 1-0 to Senegal, before they were eliminated from the tournament after an embarrassing 4-0 loss to Sudan.
As noted by CAF Online, the Eagles will play their final group game against Congo on Tuesday, August 19, before heading back home to Nigeria for the start of the Nigeria Premier Football League season.
For Eric Chelle, work continues as he will start preparation for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier matches next month.
Chelle assesses NPFL players
The manager worked with the NPFL players up close during the tournament and was faced with the question of whether they are good enough to make his Super Eagles squad.
“My squad has very good players despite the fact that we lost two games,” Chelle said as quoted by All Nigeria Soccer.
“If the players want to make the Super Eagles team, they need to be prepared, they need to have the mindset. There is a lot of pressure because you must win.”
Source: Twitter
“I don’t say they are not good, but they have to have the mindset. I have a reflection, I see and I think about something, but this is not the moment to say if a player can come or not. Most important is my reflection and my analysis about the team,” he added.
Chelle is unlikely to include any of the current CHAN squad in the squad for the World Cup qualifier, as there is zero margin for error in the matches.
Nigeria will face the Amavubi of Rwanda at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo before facing the Bafana Bafana of South Africa.
Any result short of a win in both games, particularly against South Africa, will all but end the Super Eagles' chances of playing at the Mundial and could cost Chelle his job.
Pinnick confident in Nigeria's World Cup hopes
Legit.ng reported that Amaju Pinnick remains confident that the Super Eagles of Nigeria will qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup despite a poor start.
The former president of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) likened the current situation to 2018 when the team qualified for the tournament in Russia against all odds.
Source: Legit.ng
