CAF has unveiled the ten contenders for the 2026 African Goalkeeper of the Year trophy. Yassine Bounou, the Al-Hilal goalkeeper and already a winner in 2023 and 2025, is the favourite according to Foot Africa, while Ronwen Williams, the Mamelodi Sundowns captain, is presented as a serious candidate.
The list dropped on Wednesday: ten goalkeepers are in the running for the trophy. Two names stand out among them, Yassine Bounou and Ronwen Williams, while eight other goalkeepers complete the line-up, in which Morocco is represented by two men.
According to Foot Africa, the Al-Hilal and Atlas Lions goalkeeper is among the leading favourites, thanks to his consistency with the Saudi club and the Morocco national team. The South African shot-stopper, for his part, is presented as a serious candidate thanks to his performances with Mamelodi Sundowns and Bafana Bafana.
Ten goalkeepers on the starting line
CAF has selected Oussama Benbot, Vozinha, Yahia Fofana, Lionel Mpasi, El Mahdy Soliman, Mostafa Shobeir, Ahmed Reda Tagnaouti, Yassine Bounou, Édouard Mendy and Ronwen Williams, reports foot-africa.com. Morocco places two goalkeepers on this list, with Bounou and Tagnaouti.
For Bounou, a winner in 2023 and then in 2025, his consistency with Al-Hilal and with the Atlas Lions is the argument put forward by Foot Africa, which places him among the leading favourites. This is the outlet’s assessment, not an official CAF ranking.
Williams, a candidate held back by injury
Ronwen Williams’s case reads differently. The Sundowns and Bafana Bafana goalkeeper and captain remains a serious candidate according to Foot Africa, but he has been absent for three matches through injury, according to The Citizen. Teboho Mokoena, meanwhile, has been absent for four matches.
Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso refuses to take any risk ahead of the CAF Super Cup. “Look, we cannot risk the health of a player. That’s our goal here, to protect the players and the health of the players. Let’s see how things will progress,” he told Goal.com South Africa. He therefore prefers to wait and see how the situation develops.
Sundowns and USM Alger in their sights
The next fixture comes around quickly: Sundowns face USM Alger in the CAF Super Cup on Sunday 8 November at Loftus Versfeld, The Citizen indicates. The CAF Awards ceremony, for its part, is scheduled for 7 December in Lagos, according to Le360 Sport.
Between now and Sunday, the form of Williams, absent for three matches, and that of Mokoena, absent for four, will be closely monitored at Sundowns.