Thembi Kgatlana, Kaylin Swart and the South Africa team are among the nominees for the 2026 CAF Awards, reports the Cape Argus, just weeks before the Women’s World Cup play-offs in Rabat.
According to the Cape Argus, the Banyana Banyana have picked up three nominations for the 2026 CAF Awards, with the ceremony scheduled for 7 December in Nigeria. Mexico-based forward Thembi Kgatlana is in the running for Player of the Year, goalkeeper Kaylin Swart for Goalkeeper of the Year, and the national team features in the National Team of the Year category.
The nominations come ahead of the Women’s World Cup play-offs, which coach Desiree Ellis and the South Africans will contest from 28 November to 6 December in Rabat, Morocco. The six-nation mini-tournament will pit them against Chinese Taipei, Ecuador and Uzbekistan.
Kgatlana nominated for Player of the Year
Thembi Kgatlana has already won the Player of the Year title, in 2019 in Dakar, the Cape Argus recalls. A forward based in Mexico, she is among this year’s nominees for the trophy.
The competition, however, promises to be fierce. The Player of the Year category includes the Chawinga sisters, Tabitha and Temwa, of Malawi, Zambia’s Barbra Banda, Ghana’s Portia Boakye and Cameroon’s Marie Ngah Manga. The list of ten nominees also features Marine Dafeur (Algeria), Michaely Bihina and Monique Ngock (Cameroon) as well as Hanane Aït El Haj (Morocco), still according to the South African daily.
Swart and the South African collective
Between the posts, Kaylin Swart will carry South Africa’s hopes against a crowded field: Algeria’s Chloe N’Gazi, Malawi’s Mercy Sikelo and Zambia’s Hazel Nali are among the contenders. The Cape Argus also cites Michaely Bihina (Cameroon), Cynthia Konlan (Ghana), Fatoumata Karantao (Mali), Khadija Er-Rmichi (Morocco), Christiana Uzoma (Nigeria) and Adji Ndiaye (Senegal).
Desiree Ellis’s team is also in the running for the National Team of the Year trophy, alongside notably Malawi, Ghana, Nigeria, Morocco and Cameroon. Algeria, Cabo Verde, Ivory Coast and Mali complete the list of nominees, the same source states. South Africa won the trophy in 2019 and 2022.
Rabat before the ceremony
From 28 November to 6 December, the Banyana will play a six-nation mini-tournament in Rabat, according to the Cape Argus. The top two countries from the play-offs will move on to the final phase, scheduled for February 2027.
At stake are three places at the 2027 World Cup in Brazil. The mini-tournament therefore ends the day before the CAF Awards ceremony, scheduled for 7 December in Nigeria.