Kamaru Usman on WCMCU 2026: tournament favorites, African legends and Hollywood in football

While the whole world follows the final stages of football’s biggest tournament, a man who knows everything about the road to major titles shares his WCMCU 2026 expectations. 

MelBet global ambassador and UFC former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman is known not only for his exceptional fighting skills but also for a pragmatic mindset.

Amid the football action, Nigerian Nightmare swapped the Octagon for the stands and offered his take on the current tournament.

France is the top favorite 

Usman sets the intrigue right away. When asked about the favourite, he does not even try to play the objective expert. He picks France without hesitation,  admitting he is biased.

Usman says, smiling: “Obviously, if my buddy Kylian Mbappé is playing for that team, of course it’s France”.

For Usman, France is the team that features a player capable of deciding even the toughest match on his own. And so, he believes, France rightfully remains one of the top title contenders.

African spirit and European strength

However, the Nigerian-born champion’s heart still belongs to Africa. Usman makes no secret – he always roots for African national teams. At the same time, the fighter highlights France and the technically skilled Spain among the tournament’s top favorites

Tough choice: best African football players

Another challenge for Kamaru is naming the three greatest African footballers of all time. Even his usual analytical approach takes a back seat to the richness of the continent’s legacy.

Usman starts listing names, but quickly realizes there’s no easy answer: elusive Jay-Jay Okocha, Cameroonian legend Samuel Eto’o, Egyptian King Mo Salah, the towering Nwankwo Kanu, Ivorian chief Didier Drogba… The list keeps growing, and Usman gives up. Choosing the best among equals is impossible when it comes to the achievements of an entire continent.

Fight to the bell, play to the whistle

The deepest part of the conversation is the search for a common ground between combat sports and football. Usman sees it in tenacity. There’s no difference for him between standing in the cage after a lost round or conceding a goal in the opening minutes. Footballers who give everything for all 90 minutes and fighters who keep attacking until the final seconds of the fifth round are cut from the same cloth.

Football and Hollywood

And yet, with all due respect to the number one sport, the Nigerian Nightmare doesn’t miss an opportunity to joke. In Usman’s opinion, modern football has at times become too theatrical and some moments on the pitch feel like movie scenes. He is quick to add, though, that this tournament could well change his mind.

That’s who Kamaru Usman is – a man who sees sport as the ultimate test of will. And watching as a new chapter in football history is being written right before our eyes, you realize: It doesn’t matter whether you’re wearing six-ounce gloves or football boots. Discipline, relentless belief, and readiness to go all the way are the only currency that earns the greatest trophies.