Jose Peseiro, the Portuguese coach who led Nigeria to the 2023 AFCON final, has taken a dig at the Super Eagles’ third-place finish at this year’s tournament in Morocco, Footynaija.com reports.
Peseiro handled the Super Eagles between 2022 and 2024, taking the three-time African champions to their first AFCON final since 2013. That campaign marked Nigeria’s first appearance at that stage since their title-winning triumph a decade earlier, and they lost 2-1 to hosts Ivory Coast in the final.
The Portuguese tactician has now used that achievement as the standard by which all subsequent Nigeria coaches should be measured.
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Under current boss Eric Chelle, who took charge in January 2025, the Super Eagles fell short in the semi-finals against host nation Morocco before beating Egypt 4-2 on penalties in the bronze medal match.
Chelle’s side received widespread praise for the quality of their football throughout the competition, scoring 14 goals across five matches to post the highest scoring rate in the tournament, but finishing third was not enough to satisfy Peseiro.
“Nigeria is a big football country in Africa, and every tournament comes with expectations,” the Al-Ula coach said in a report by BSN Sport.
“You are expected to reach the final of the AFCON, and we did that two years ago, our best finish in a long time. I see that the team finished third at the last tournament.”
The comments land in the middle of an ongoing debate about Chelle’s future. There is an air of uncertainty around Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) renewing his contract after the NFF failed to meet his demands.
Peseiro’s framing, deliberate or not, adds weight to the voices calling for a higher benchmark.
For Chelle’s supporters, the third-place finish is proof that the foundation is solid and that an AFCON title in 2027 remains a realistic target.
Whether the NFF resolves his contract situation before the next qualifying cycle begins will define which direction Nigerian football takes from here.
