Full List: All 36 coaches who have managed Nigeria’s Super Eagles

2 weeks ago 57

The Nigeria Football Federation announced that it has reached an agreement with German tactician Bruno Labbadia to become the Head Coach of Nigeria’s Senior Men’s National Team, the Super Eagles.

NFF General Secretary, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi, stated on Tuesday: “The NFF Executive Committee has approved the recommendation of its Technical and Development Sub-Committee to appoint Mr. Bruno Labbadia as Head Coach of the Super Eagles. The appointment is with immediate effect.”

Born in Darmstadt, Germany on February 8, 1966, Labbadia won two caps for Die Mannschaft in his playing career, which included stints at Darmstadt 98, Hamburger SV, FC Kaiserslautern, Bayern Munich, FC Cologne, Werder Bremen, Armenia Bielefeld, and Karlsruher SC. He triumphed in the German Bundesliga with Bayern Munich as a player in 1994. As a coach, he led clubs like Hertha Berlin, VfB Stuttgart, VfL Wolfsburg, Hamburger SV, and Bayer Leverkusen and holds a UEFA Pro License.

Labbadia becomes the sixth German to coach the Super Eagles, following in the footsteps of Karl-Heinz Marotzke, Gottlieb Göller, Manfred Höner, Berti Vogts, and Gernot Rohr. Höner led the Eagles to a runner-up position at the 1988 Africa Cup of Nations, while Rohr guided Nigeria to the 2018 FIFA World Cup finals in Russia.

Labbadia’s immediate challenge is to lead the three-time African champions in two 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying matches against Benin Republic on September 7th in Uyo and Rwanda on September 10th in Kigali, with four more matches scheduled for October and November to conclude the qualifying race.

He is the 37th head coach of the Super Eagles in history: see full list below:

John Finch (England) – 1949

Daniel Anyiam (Nigeria) – 1954-1956; 1964-1965

Les Courtier (England) – 1956-1960

Moshe Beit Halevi (Israel) – 1960-1961

George Vardar (Hungary) – 1961-1963

Joey Blackwell (England) – 1963 – 1964

József Ember (Hungary) – 1965-1968

Sabino Barinaga (Spain) – 1968-1969

Peter ‘Eto’ Amaechina (Nigeria) – 1969-1970

Karl-Heinz Marotzke (Germany) – 1970-1971; 1974

Jorge Penna (Brazil) – 1972-1973