Dennerby may return to coach Super Falcons

Swedish coach Thomas Dennerby could make a comeback as the coach of the Super Falcons. The Nigeria Football Federation is working hard to find a new coach before the Olympic qualifiers next month, according to PUNCH Sports Extra.
In August, the NFF board, which was struggling under former president Ibrahim Gusau, asked the current technical crew, led by coach Justine Madugu, to resign. This decision came after the team’s poor performance at the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco. They could not defend their title and also missed qualifying for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Madugu and his team had previously helped the Super Falcons win their record-extending 10th WAFCON title in 2025.
Now, the interim NFF leadership under Emmanuel Ikpeme is racing to appoint a new coach. This is crucial because the Super Falcons will start their qualification for the 2028 Olympic Games in October, facing Comoros.
Bukola Olopade, the Director-General of the National Sports Commission, stated that the team will have a new technical crew before the qualifiers.
“The Olympics are around the corner; we will see how we can adjust the technical team of the Falcons, just like we did for the U-23 team, which coach Eric Chelle will lead. We are eager to qualify for the Olympics,” Olopade said in August.
Sources say that while negotiations are ongoing between the NFF and Dennerby, they have not ruled out Nigerian coaches for the job.
Another name being considered for a possible comeback is Florence Omagbemi, who led the Super Falcons to the WAFCON title in 2016.
Dennerby is currently at the top of the list for the position. He was the head coach of the Super Falcons from January 2018 to September 2019. During his time, he led Nigeria to victory at the 2018 Africa Women’s Cup of Nations in Ghana. He also took the team to the knockout stages of the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France, marking their first appearance in the round of 16 in twenty years.
The 65-year-old coach left his position in 2019 due to a disagreement with the football administrators. He then took up the role of coach for the Indian women’s national team, which he left in 2023 after his contract ended.
The Super Falcons returned to women’s football at the Paris 2024 Olympics after not participating for 16 years. Unfortunately, they were eliminated in the group stage.
After missing out on the World Cup, the Olympics offers the team another chance to prove themselves.
Nigeria will begin their qualification campaign in October against Comoros. The Coelacanths secured their place in the second round with a staggering 30-0 aggregate win over Sudan.
They won the first leg 17-0 on June 3 and followed it up with a 13-0 victory five days later.