Bruno Labbadia, a German coach, has been appointed as the 37th Head Coach of Nigeria's Super Eagles.

 

Bruno Labbadia, a German coach, has been appointed as the 37th Head Coach of Nigeria's Super Eagles.

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has confirmed that it has reached an agreement with German coach Bruno Labbadia to take on the role of Head Coach for Nigeria’s Senior Men's National Team, the Super Eagles.

Dr. Mohammed Sanusi, NFF General Secretary, announced early Tuesday: “The NFF Executive Committee has approved the recommendation of the Technical and Development Sub-Committee to appoint Mr. Bruno Labbadia as the Head Coach of the Super Eagles, effective immediately.”

Born in Darmstadt, Germany, on February 8, 1966, Labbadia had a distinguished playing career with clubs including Darmstadt 98, Hamburger SV, FC Kaiserslautern, Bayern Munich, FC Cologne, Werder Bremen, Armenia Bielefeld, and Karlsruher SC. He won the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich in 1994. His coaching career includes stints with Hertha Berlin, VfB Stuttgart, VfL Wolfsburg, Hamburger SV, and Bayer Leverkusen. He holds a UEFA Pro License.

Labbadia becomes only the sixth German to lead the Super Eagles, following Karl-Heinz Marotzke (1970-1974), Gottlieb Göller (1981), Manfred Höner (1988-1989), Berti Vogts (2007-2008), and Gernot Rohr (2016-2021). Höner guided the team to the runner-up position at the 1988 Africa Cup of Nations, while Rohr led Nigeria to the 2018 FIFA World Cup finals in Russia.

Labbadia’s immediate task is to lead the Super Eagles in two 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Benin Republic (September 7 in Uyo) and Rwanda (September 10 in Kigali), with four additional matches scheduled for October and November to complete the qualifying campaign.