Nominated by Manchester United for the 2026 African Player of the Year award, Ivory Coast winger Amad Diallo can point to an AFCON 2025 with three goals and a World Cup opened with a decisive goal against Ecuador.
Manchester United’s official website announces that Amad Diallo is among the nominees for the 2026 African Player of the Year award. The information comes from the club itself: the winger, who wears the No 16 shirt for the Red Devils, is for now only named on the list, without any vote having taken place.
The case put forward by the club rests on two major tournaments: three goals at AFCON 2025 in Morocco, then a winning goal against Ecuador in Ivory Coast’s opening match at the 2026 World Cup. As the club is not a neutral source on its own player’s record, these elements should be read as its own statements.
Three goals and a quarter-final
At AFCON 2025, played in Morocco from December to January, Diallo scored three goals, according to Manchester United. The Elephants reached the quarter-finals of the competition. The case does not specify which opponent eliminated them or the score of that defeat.
Those three goals form the first part of the case presented by the club. The second comes a few months later, at the World Cup.
A goal against Ecuador, then Norway
At the 2026 World Cup, the winger scored the winning goal against Ecuador in Ivory Coast’s opening match, according to the same source.
What followed was harder: Ivory Coast were knocked out 2-1 by Norway in the round of 32. Diallo still scored in that match, and his goal is a candidate for goal of the tournament, again according to the club. Two goals in a single World Cup, one decisive and another potentially award-winning: the case has some weight.
Drogba, Yaya Touré and The Gambia
The club’s website states that only two Ivorians have ever won the award: Didier Drogba and Yaya Touré.
Diallo is currently with his national team for the matches against The Gambia this November. The club does not specify the dates of these fixtures.
The trophy will be presented on 7 December 2026 in Lagos, at the CAF Awards, according to the same source.