Eric Chelle has said the Super Eagles are still alive in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification thanks to their hard-fought 2-1 win against Lesotho in Group C on Friday.
Goals from William Troost-Ekong and debutant Akor Adams helped the Super Eagles secure their third win in the group.
The win means the Super Eagles are now on 14 points and occupy third position on the log.
They are three points behind group leaders Benin Republic who defeated Rwanda 1-0 in Kigali.
Bafana Bafana of South Africa remain in second place on 15 points after a disappointing goalless draw with Zimbabwe.
Speaking in his post-match presser, Chelle said:”Today we are happy because we won the three points, we are still alive. I’m happy for my players, I want to congratulate them, for us we’ve been feeling the pressure since March and when my players come to camp they feel the pressure because for Nigeria we need to go to the World Cup, so we have lots of pressure, so maybe other teams will have some pressure too.”
Also Read: 2026 WCQ: Super Eagles’ Rating Player-By-Player In Slim Win Over Lesotho
Chelle called on Uyo fans to show full support to the Super Eagles in Tuesday’s decider with Benin Republic.
“We need to have our fans behind us to put pressure on Benin, this is the World Cup qualifiers, so and this game start when they put their feet in our country, we need to do the job on the pitch.”
Giving his thoughts on the gake against Lesotho Troost-Ekong said:”Lesotho played a great game, it wasn’t easy to come here, we knew that from the start and I can understand the disappointment and frustration because they put up a very good fight.
“This kind of games are never easy, the coach talked about the pressure which has been on us since March and maybe since the start of the qualifiers. We just want to focus on ourselves we are a team of guys that have winning mentality, they want to be winners.
“We want to be at the World Cup we’ve said that now for the last nine months and we have the opportunity now with the game in Uyo against Benin who we know we have to score certain amount of goals, it was always the case we need to win the game and we have to win it convincingly.
“It’s going to be a big test again but now I think the team is really ready, we’ve been working on the pressure for such a long time and we know this is the final and we worked really hard to get there and like the coach said I’m proud of the team.”
By James Agberebi
4 Comments
Lesotho vs Nigeria: 1-2
A Retrospective Review
Under Chelle, we remain remarkably undefeated and have now gathered a whopping 11 out of a possible 15 points from 5 World Cup qualifiers, which by any metric would be lauded to the high heavens. But, Coach Eric Chelle remains a villain to some.
Why did the NFF leave it late to employ this coach?
Yesterday’s eventual 2:1 win against Lesotho wasn’t only as dull as dishwater, it was dire, early in the match. Things would get better as the match progressed.
I was left scratching my head at how the Super Eagles poorly executed basic routines: crosses overhit, (simple) passes bungled, long balls overcooked, movements (hopelessly) uncoordinated, shots misfired, headers misconnected – all of which combined to make their overall presentation amateurish and the players looking woefully unprepared.
But even at that, I drew comfort from being able to decipher what they were trying to do – I am talking particularly about the first half; their second half application was much improved. The players initially looked jittery and nervous, almost overwhelmed by the enormity of the task ahead. They started as slowly as a snail.
I think Arokodare struggled because he played in right centre forward for most parts. That side of our game was wretchedly weak. Simon, accustomed to the left side, was ineffective at the right. With no recognisable natural right full back, Fredricks was very slow to grasp his responsibility early, all combining to numb our right side and make Arokodare look useless.
On the left was where the action was. Bruno, Iwobi, Lookman and even Osihmen all combined and coordinated to create pockets of openings. But Iwobi’s through passes, high balls and driven passes were often overcooked, too heavy or lacked cutting edge. Lookman couldn’t make headway with his take-ons. Osihmen was well marshalled, and the balls that found him had lost potency. Bruno moved overlapped with intent, but his end product was often not palatable. They cobbled passes together but they were disjointed approaching the opposition’s box-18.
But at least I could see what they were trying to do, even though they were doing it very poorly.
The plan was simple. Iwobi unlocks with through passes; Osihmen latches on, locates Arokodare, who stabs home; Looman dazzles down the flank; Bruno creates outlets; a similar pattern is repeated on the right, with Ndidi shielding the back 4 and Nwabili “communicating” effectively with those around him.
Simple enough, isn’t it?
Well, I think it all come together in the second half.
With Akor’s introduction, finally, we had a Super Eagle striker who could take out defenders with leg-work that has credibility and cutting edge. Finally, Fredricks had come alive to the responsibilities of a right full-back, and, my God, some of his crosses were fiendish, as he also combined beautifully with wingers. Finally, the 2 centre forwards were combining and, finally we had the winning goal.
Finally, abi? Finally, the ghost of errors emerged from the shadows to haunt our defence. Finally, we conceded after said defence f*cked up a simple corner kick defensive routine. Finally, we almost lost it all after said defence contrived in the last minute for the ball to almost roll into an empty net.
Finally, Chelle now has 3 out of his customary 4 points in any 2 competitive games. Finally, we live to fight another day.
We are still in this – thanks to Coach Chelle, and, I guess, thanks to the players. Like I predicted, we will finish strongly.
The question remains: Will a strong finish be good enough?
Chelle is only a Villan to Saboteurs Forming Nigerian, Chelle is only a Villian to Sentimental Nigerians who don’t wtch the game of Football and rely on Sentimental Bias clueless Nigeria Media and their Opinions. Chelle is only a Villan to Evil Ex Internationals and football stake Holders who only care about Money and not the team or Fans… If Anybody Starts bad propaganda against Chelle Just know this They want nothing Good for Nigerian Football
Why did NFF take long to Higher a substantive coach well it is simple they did not want to pay for a good coach. but in the end they had no option but to pay and they got a good coach, maybe not on the level of Herve Renard like they are supposed to be pushing for but he is good, Every body should leave chelle alone he is better than any Nigerian Coach currently
Yep Ugo, I agree with you 100%
On a good day, Chelle is nowhere near the level of managing the Super Eagles. But, give respect where due and, in all fairness, Chelle has done a good job.
His approach is unbearably rough around tactical edges. His shortcomings are as clear as day.
He tried to shut up shop yesterday by replacing a striker (Osihmen) with a defender (Semi Ajayi).
Okay, on paper, this was the smartest move. However, on the pitch, his instructions and directions were so poorly implemented that the team looked worse than when Osihmen was there.
In fact, we looked most valuable and almost conceded a late goal, despite going 5 at the back.
I wholly understand why people would criticise Chelle. But, on the whole, he is decent.
I predict that, if he is left to lead us to the Afcon, we will go far and push for a place on the podium. Chelle plays with structure, cohesion and direction. But his team loses concentration damagingly and they start slow in the early stages and go to sleep in the late stages.
With a few tweaks here and there, Chelle’s team will be a stronger force.
If he is dismissed unceremoniously, the Afcon will end up in disaster.
Anybody thinking of sacking Chelle is not in his right frame of mind. I think he’s done a good job with the Super Eagles. We are where we are today because of Paseiro and Finidi’s failures.
Paseiro made us play negative football, even though it took us to AFCON finals, but got exposed in the early stages of the World Cup qualifiers. Today, he is jobless. For Finidi, the Super Eagles was just too big for him for now. I hope a miracle happens and we qualify, but if we fail, Chelle should not be held responsible. 11 points out of 15 is a decent return.