Former Sweden coach who snubbed Nigeria’s Super Eagles announces retirement

Former Sweden head coach Janne Andersson has announced his retirement from football, bringing an end to a storied 40-year career on the touchline — and confirming he once came close to managing Nigeria’s Super Eagles, Soccernet.ng reports.

Andersson, 62, stepped down from his role as Sweden’s national team manager at the end of 2023 after failing to qualify the country for UEFA Euro 2024, the first time since 1996 that Sweden would miss the continental tournament.

Appointed as Sweden boss in 2016, Andersson was widely praised for guiding the national team to its most successful FIFA World Cup campaign since 1994.

In the 2018 edition held in Russia, Sweden topped a group containing South Korea, Mexico, and defending champions Germany. They went on to eliminate Switzerland in the Round of 16 before falling to England in the quarter-finals.

The early part of his tenure also included guiding Sweden to UEFA Nations League A promotion after topping a group featuring Turkey and Russia in the 2018–19 edition.

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However, the latter years of Andersson’s reign were marked by underwhelming results.

Sweden failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup after losing to Poland in the playoffs, suffered relegation in the 2022–23 UEFA Nations League, and endured further disappointment in the Euro 2024 qualifiers.

Andersson has now confirmed he is walking away from management entirely — and in doing so, he revealed he rejected an offer to coach Nigeria’s Super Eagles in mid- 2024 following Finidi George’s resignation.

“All four criteria were actually quite well met, like with Nigeria for example, but it wasn’t enough. And it’s been like that a few more times, but it didn’t matter,” Andersson told Swedish outlet Expressen.

He explained that he had four conditions for accepting a new job:

“It had to be something new, sporty, I wanted to bring someone, or a few, I had worked with before. And it had to be financially sound.”

The 62-year-old added:

“Instead, that feeling grew stronger and stronger. It’s like when an older player in the national team comes and says it’s time to stop, I would never convince that player to continue.

“Once you get there in your mind, it’s brutally difficult to turn around. It was the same for me.”

Following Andersson’s decision, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) pursued former Bayer Leverkusen and Stuttgart boss Bruno Labbadia, even announcing his appointment before final contract terms were agreed. Labbadia ultimately declined the offer.

The NFF then turned to Augustine Eguavoen in an interim capacity. The former Nigeria international led the team to a successful qualification for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.

In January 2025, Nigeria appointed ex-Mali national team coach Eric Chelle as their new permanent manager.

Chelle began his tenure with a 2-0 away victory over Rwanda in World Cup qualifying, before a 1-1 draw against Zimbabwe in Uyo dented Nigeria’s hopes of making it to the 2026 World Cup.

Despite the setback, Chelle remains upbeat and is set to begin a squad rebuild in May, during the Unity Cup in Brentford. Nigeria are due to face Ghana, and if victorious, will meet either Jamaica or Trinidad and Tobago in the final.