Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Technical Director Augustine Eguavoen has called for the immediate appointment of a substantive head coach for the Super Eagles ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
Eguavoen, who guided Nigeria to qualification for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, believes time is running out as preparations for the crucial World Cup qualifying fixtures gather pace.
Softfootball understands the former defender stressed the importance of giving the new coach enough time to settle into the role. Speaking to Kennis FM, Eguavoen said:
All hands must be on deck, we want to try and qualify for the World Cup.
With the next round of qualifiers approaching, he urged the NFF to act without delay.
March is just around the corner. If we have to do something about the team, we need to do it quick. That person should come in as quickly as possible, settle down, so that we could speak, tweak things, exchange ideas and talk about the way forward. The earlier the better,
he added.
Despite acknowledging the federation’s interest in appointing a foreign coach, Eguavoen maintained that he would prefer a home-grown manager to lead the national team.
We should stay at home for the choice of head coach, but the technical crew has to be enlarged. The head coach should be home-grown because we know the situation and we feel the pulse of the people,
he said.
