Jay-Jay Okocha receives ‘Superior Player of the Match’ Award for 1998 World Cup Nigeria's win over Spain

Former Super Eagles captain Augustine “Jay-Jay” Okocha has been honored with a special retroactive “Superior Player of the Match” award for his performance in Nigeria’s legendary 3–2 victory over Spain at the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

The group stage classic, played on June 13, 1998, in Nantes, saw the Super Eagles twice come from behind to upset the European giants. In a video shared on his Instagram page on Thursday, the 52-year-old Okocha unveiled the silver trophy from a custom case.

“Hello, this is JJ Okocha. I’m about to unveil this special award being given to me by FIFA,” he said in the clip. “And it was given to me for winning the Superior Man of the Match in a World Cup game, Nigeria versus Spain, 1998. Special thank you to Michelob ULTRA and Copa90 for this amazing award. I feel so honoured to receive it, thank you,” the Bolton Wanderers legend added.

Goals from Mutiu Adepoju and a long-range strike from Sunday Oliseh secured all three points for Nigeria at the Stade de la Beaujoire. Coached by Bora Milutinović, the Super Eagles also defeated Bulgaria in the group stage to reach the knockout round, where Denmark eliminated them 4–1 in the Round of 16.

The award reflects Okocha’s contributions to football and his status as one of Africa’s most talented players, as the 2026 World Cup kicks off in the US, Canada, and Mexico. At the 1994 World Cup, Okocha completed 15 dribbles in Nigeria’s loss to Italy in another Round of 16 tie — a feat that earned him the record for the most successful dribbles in a single FIFA World Cup match.

About The Author

Dele Fashomi

Dele Fashomi, seasoned journalist and communication teacher, is a holder of Master of Arts degree in Communication and Language Arts from the University of Ibadan in 1992/93.

Earlier, he had bagged a Bachelor degree from the same university in 1984, after which he proceeded to the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Lagos, in 1990, for a postgraduate diploma in Journalism.

He had done many courses in communication, including the EU-BBC Editing Course in 2002.

Mr. Fashomi combines effectively the practice, research and teaching of communication. And to date, he has published two academic works in communication: Issues in Communication Technology and Policy (2010) and Economic and Social Issues in Advertising and PR (2013).

He had his first break in the Nigerian media in Concord Newspapers in 1990 and today, he has over two and half decades experience earned in several newspapers.

He has been part of many start-ups, such as The Republic (1987), The Comet (1999), The Anchor 2001 – 2002; Sun Newspapers (2003); Westerner newsmagazine (2005 – 2010) as Editor; National Life (2011) as Sunday Editor, and Newswatch Newspapers (2012- 2016) as Daily Editor.

Dele Fashomi is now the Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of Newstide247.com newspaper online, which he started in July 2015. He is also into biography writing, with many books in his trail, some of which he wrote alone and one he co- authored with his mentor, Mr Dare Babarinsa, entitled: Olabiyi Durojaiye – DARE TO BE DiFFERENT. He also guided and collaborated with Pa Olatunji Odusanya in writing his autobiography – AGAINST ALL ODDS. There are many other books in the works under his pen.

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