Rwanda vs Nigeria: Victor Osimhen is the driver and 2 other things we learnt in Eric Chelle's first game in charge

Eric Chelle’s reign began with positivity, as Nigeria recorded a 2-0 victory away in Rwanda.

It was Victor Osimhen’s first appearance in the 2026 WCQ and the Galatasaray man showed exactly what the team has been missing in their opening four matches.

The striker got at the end of Ademola Lookman’s well-taken freekick to put the Super Eagles ahead before a composed finish for the second after latching on to a ball from Samuel Chukwueze.

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Here are the things we learnt in the win 

After missing the opening three matches of the 2026 WCQ through injury, Osimhen was ready to help the team secure their first victory and he showed this by arriving very early to camp.

He certainly showed he is in a class of his own after grabbing a brace in this game to take his tally for Nigeria to 25 goals.

His skillset and tenacity is irreplaceable in the team right now. No wonder he is only behind Rasheedi Yekini (37) on Nigeria’s all-time scorer’s chart.

One of the issues before Chelle took over was how the Super Eagles looked all over the place when attacking or defending set plays.

However, in this game, Nigeria became more dangerous when attacking set pieces and it produced the first goal.

In the first half alone, the Super Eagles could have scored three times just from set pieces and this is a welcomed improvement.

Defensively, the team also gave nothing away in those situations.

The Malian was known for his high-intensity diamond midfield during his time with Mali.

While there were doubts about if the Super Eagles had the players to execute this, Chelle deployed it regardless and it produced dividends. 

The central access was quite good to see and it allowed for compactness when defending.