Nigeria have named former German striker Bruno Labbadia as their new head coach. The Super Eagles, who are Rwanda's opponents in both the AFCON 2025 and 2026 World Cup qualifiers, have been without a coach since sacking George Finidi in June 2024 following a draw at home to South Africa and a 2-1 away defeat to Benin in Abidjan. Labbadia’s first test will be against Benin in the AFCON Qualifiers on September 7 before traveling to Kigali to face Amavubi on September 10. The NFF Executive Committee has approved the recommendation of its Technical and Development Sub-Committee to appoint Bruno Labbadia as Head Coach of the Super Eagles, Ademola Olajire, the NFF Communication Manager stated. The appointment is with immediate effect, he added. Labbadia, 58, featured for Bayern Munich from 1991 to 1994 where he made 82 appearances scoring 28 goals. He was capped twice by Germany from 1992 to 1995. In his coaching career, which spans 21 years, he has handled teams including Hanburgy, Wolfsburg and Leverkusen among others. His last job was at VFB Stuttgart where he was sacked in April 2023 after nearly sending the team to relegation.
