Pedri will win it — JJ Okocha agrees with Alozie, picks AFCON, Ballon d'Or, Premier League and World Cup winners

Super Eagles legend JJ Okocha has made his early predictions for the 2026 calendar year in football, picking the Nigerian national team to win the AFCON and Spain to win the World Cup, among other interesting picks.

The 1994 AFCON winner tipped his countrymen to win the 2025 edition of the competition in a NIKE-convened questionnaire. “Of course, Nigeria. As a Nigerian, I mean,” he answered briskly.

The ex-Fulham man found it tougher to answer the following question, in which he was asked to predict the World Cup winner, especially as his Super Eagles failed to qualify. 

He pondered over the question a bit before eventually picking Spain, and his answers to subsequent questions underscored how highly he rated Luis De La Fuente’s La Roja.

Like Michelle Alozie in a previous video on the same platform, the Super Eagles legend also tipped Barcelona’s youngster Lamine Yamal to win the World Cup Golden Boot.

Their choice is fascinating because, albeit supremely talented, Yamal is not known for his goalscoring, and more accomplished finishers like Kylian Mbappe, Harry Kane, Erling Haaland and Cristiano Ronaldo will be at the World Cup.

Despite the Gunners’ current league lead in January, Okocha still fancies Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City for the Premier League title. He tipped Vincent Kompany’s Bayern Munich for the Champions League.

Okocha went for a romantic choice in his pick for this year’s Ballon d’Or, snubbing players who guarantee high-volume goals and assists. It is also quite fitting, as Pedri, like Okocha, is a supremely gifted footballer capable of influencing matches without necessarily registering direct goal contributions.