Super Eagles head coach, Finidi George, has resigned after a poor run of games in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
The former Nigerian international confirmed his resignation to Channels Television on Saturday.
“Yes, it is true. I have resigned,” he wrote in response to enquiries.
However, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) is yet to react to this development.
George led the Eagles to a 1-1 draw against South Africa at home in Uyo and a 2-1 loss to Benin Republic in Abidjan, putting Nigeria’s qualification to the World Cup in serious doubt.
The two results extended Nigeria’s winless run in the qualifiers having previously played two draws under former coach Jose Peseiro.
Nigeria is now 5th above only Zimbabwe in the Group C qualification lot for the 2026 World Cup.
Following the poor performance of the Nigerian team in the two games under George, there were several calls from the fans for his sack.
Hiring ‘expatriate’ technical adviser
Faced with the potential of missing out on another World Cup after the failure of Qatar 2022, the NFF and the Sports Minister had an emergency meeting with George after the South Africa and Benin Republic games.
After the meeting, the nation’s football governing body spared George but revealed that it would hire an expatriate technical adviser for the Super Eagles.
It was, however, unclear what role George will play in the Super Eagles going forward.
“The Executive Committee of Nigeria Football Federation held a meeting on Wednesday, 12th June 2024 in hybrid mode to deliberate on important issues in Nigeria Football and resolved as follows:
“The Executive Committee wholeheartedly apologized to Nigerians for the dismal output and subsequent very poor returns of the Senior Men National Team, Super Eagles, in four out of 10 matches in the ongoing qualification series for the 2026 FIFA World Cup finals, and pledged to work assiduously and put necessary measures in place to ensure a better-prepared squad ahead of the AFCON 2025 qualifiers in September this year and the resumption of the World Cup qualifiers in March 2025,” the NFF said.
“Further to (1) above, the Executive Committee resolved to employ an expatriate Technical Adviser for the Super Eagles in the coming weeks, ahead of the AFCON qualifiers and the remaining FIFA World Cup qualifying matches.”
Succeeding Peseiro
Portuguese tactician Jose Peseiro took a walk from the Super Eagles team following the expiration of his contract with the NFF at the end of the 2023 Nation’s Cup in Ivory Coast where the team lost to the host in the final.
Peseiro’s departure left a vacancy that the Federation, after several weeks filled with George, who served as assistant to the Portuguese for 20 months.
The announcement of his appointment in April signaled Nigeria’s return to an indigenous coach which many had clamoured for.
Before he was appointed the substantive head coach, George who was also serving as the head coach of Nigerian league side, Enyimba had taken charge of the squad in an interim capacity during two friendly matches in Morocco in March.
He led the team to edge Ghana 2-1 in the first match, ending an 18-year winless streak against the Black Stars but then lost 0-2 to Mali in the second game.
The friendly victory against Ghana ended up being the only victory recorded by George in his four games while in charge of the Super Eagles. He recorded two losses against Mali and the Benin Republic and one draw against South Africa.
An ex-Eagle
George played for the Nigerian national team, winning 62 caps for the country as a player.
He was a member of the Nigerian golden generation that won the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Tunisia and emerged as the second most entertaining team in Nigeria’s debut at the FIFA World Cup finals in the USA the same year.
He also won gold, silver, and bronze medals from the 1992, 1994, 2000, and 2002 AFCON tournaments.
The 52-year-old former Ajax Amsterdam (The Netherlands) and Real Betis (Spain) forward, who made a scoring debut for the fatherland in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match against Burkina Faso at the National Stadium, Lagos on 27th July 1991, also featured for Calabar Rovers and Sharks FC in the domestic scene before heading to Europe.
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