Following Spain’s dominant outing at Monday night’s 2026 Ballon d’Or awards, former Super Eagles midfielder, Mutiu Adepoju, has said Nigeria has a lot to learn from Spanish football.

At the awards night, where Harry Kane became the first English player to win the Ballon d’Or for 25 years, Spain won nine out of the 13 awards at stake.

Speaking with our correspondent, Adepoju, who started his European sojourn with Spain’s Real Madrid in the late 80s, said there are lots of lessons for Nigeria to learn from how the country has been managing their football to record success at both international and club levels.

“They are doing a lot of things right from investment to organisation and also putting a lot of effort in doing the right thing,” the former Real Sociedad star said.

“The result is out there for all to see. They are the current world champions for both men and women, and while the men are current UEFA European Championship winners, the women are the defending champions of the UEFA Women’s Nations League, making them a formidable team across the world.

“LaLiga at some time had a partnership with Nigeria, and all the target was to improve the quality of football in Nigeria.” Speaking further, Adepoju said it was a good thing seeing a player like Harry Kane winning the award after his efforts over the year under review.