CAF has published the CAF Awards 2026 lists: no Nigerian is nominated in the seven men’s categories. Senegal places Ismaïla Sarr (Crystal Palace), Pape Gueye (Villarreal) and Sadio Mané (Al-Nassr) among the players nominated for African Player of the Year.
The Confederation of African Football has unveiled the nominee lists for the CAF Awards 2026, ahead of the ceremony scheduled for Monday 7 December in Lagos, Nigeria. In the seven men’s categories, no Nigerian features, reports Footafrica.net/AfricaSport.
Neither Victor Osimhen (Galatasaray), nor Ademola Lookman (Atlético Madrid), nor Nigeria head coach Éric Chelle made the cut. Senegal, by contrast, is well represented, with players, a coach and a goalkeeper named.
Hakimi the holder, three Senegalese in the running
Among the eleven nominees for African Player of the Year, Achraf Hakimi (Morocco, PSG) is the reigning holder and among the favourites, according to Footafrica.net/ChampionSport. Senegal places three key men there: Ismaïla Sarr, Pape Gueye and Sadio Mané, reports Enquête Plus.
The list also includes Amad Diallo (Ivory Coast, Manchester United), Antoine Semenyo (Ghana, Manchester City), Brahim Díaz (Morocco, Real Madrid), Ismaël Saibari (Morocco, Bayern Munich), Yoane Wissa (DR Congo, Newcastle United) and Teboho Mokoena (South Africa), the only player based on the continent.
The three Senegalese come with strong cases. Ismaïla Sarr featured in Crystal Palace’s first European triumph in the Conference League, where he was top scorer with nine goals and the competition’s best player. He adds nine goals in the Premier League, twenty in all competitions. At the 2026 World Cup, he scored four times and finished as the top African scorer, becoming with five goals Senegal’s all-time leading scorer in the competition, according to Enquête Plus.
Gueye and Mané, solid cases
Pape Gueye was voted best African player in La Liga 2025-2026, with five goals in thirty matches. Above all, he scored the 94th-minute winner as Senegal beat Morocco in the AFCON 2025 final, before being named man of the match, according to Enquête Plus.
Sadio Mané was named best player of AFCON 2025, scoring the decisive goal in the semi-final against Egypt. With Al-Nassr, he scored ten goals and provided six assists in the Saudi Pro League, claiming his first Saudi Arabian league title, Enquête Plus specifies.
Senegal also in the coaching and goalkeeping categories
Senegal is also present among the coaches and goalkeepers. Pape Thiaw is among the ten coaches nominated for Coach of the Year, alongside Walid Regragui (Morocco) and Miguel Cardoso (Mamelodi Sundowns), according to Footafrica.net/AfricaSport. Édouard Mendy is named among the goalkeepers, in a list that includes Yacine Bounou (Morocco), Mostafa Shobeir (Egypt), Vozinha (Cape Verde), El Mahdi Soliman (Egypt), Oussama Benbot (Algeria), Lionel Mpasi (DR Congo), Ahmed Reda Tagnaouti (Morocco), Ronwen Williams (South Africa) and Yahia Fofana (Ivory Coast), according to Masr Times.
National teams of the year and the Lagos date
For the national team of the year title, ten teams are in contention: Egypt, Algeria, Ivory Coast, Cape Verde, DR Congo, Ghana, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia, reports Arab Time. Nigeria is not among them.
No winner has yet been named: the lists published by CAF are only nominations, and the ceremony on Monday 7 December in Lagos will decide between the candidates.