The Confederation of African Football has unveiled the 10-man shortlist for the CAF Awards 2026 Men’s Player of the Year — and for the first time in three years, no Nigerian player features on it. Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman, the winners of the last two editions of African football’s biggest individual prize, have both been left out of the race.
CAF confirmed the CAF Awards 2026 nominees on Wednesday, 4 November, ahead of the awards ceremony in Lagos on Monday, 7 December 2026. The snub ends Nigeria’s short but proud grip on the crown and leaves the Super Eagles without a single representative in any of the men’s categories — not in Player of the Year, Goalkeeper of the Year, Interclub Player of the Year, Coach of the Year or Young Player of the Year.
Back-to-back winners now on the outside
Osimhen claimed the award in 2023 after firing Napoli to the Serie A title, and Lookman followed him a year later after a stunning season with Atalanta, capped by his hat-trick in the Europa League final. Between them, they made Nigeria the team to beat at the CAF Awards.
This time, neither man made the cut. The full 10-man shortlist is: Achraf Hakimi (Morocco/Paris Saint-Germain), Brahim Diaz (Morocco/Real Madrid), Ismael Saibari (Morocco/Bayern Munich), Sadio Mane (Senegal/Al-Nassr), Ismaila Sarr (Senegal/Crystal Palace), Pape Gueye (Senegal/Villarreal), Amad Diallo (Côte d’Ivoire/Manchester United), Yoane Wissa (DR Congo/Newcastle United), Antoine Semenyo (Ghana/Manchester City) and Teboho Mokoena (South Africa/Mamelodi Sundowns).
Hakimi leads the CAF Awards 2026 field
Hakimi, who won the award in 2025 ahead of Mohamed Salah and Osimhen, is the favourite to retain it. The Morocco captain enjoyed another outstanding year with Paris Saint-Germain, winning Ligue 1 and a second consecutive UEFA Champions League as part of a five-trophy season.
Morocco and Senegal dominate the list with three nominees each, while Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, DR Congo and South Africa supply one apiece. The shortlist will be trimmed to three finalists before the Lagos ceremony.
‘It is regrettable’ — Lawal’s warning
Former Super Eagles midfielder Garba Lawal has urged Osimhen and Lookman to raise their game after the snub. Speaking to Africafoot, Lawal said: “It is regrettable that no Nigerian is on the list. But we know that several factors can explain such a situation: a dip in form, an injury, or simply a lack of fitness.”
Lawal also pointed to Nigeria’s failure to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup as a factor, arguing that missing the biggest tournament in the world makes it difficult for any player to challenge for the award. The omission stings all the more given Nigeria’s third-place finish at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco.
Lagos hosts the ceremony
The 2026 CAF Awards will be staged in Lagos on 7 December, giving Nigerian fans a front-row seat to a ceremony with no home favourite in the main event. For Osimhen, the timing is doubly painful — the Galatasaray striker is set to undergo knee surgery on Saturday, 7 November, and will miss Nigeria’s AFCON qualifiers against Tanzania.
The CAF Awards 2026 will honour ten nominees in each of the seven men’s categories — Player of the Year, Goalkeeper of the Year, Interclub Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, Young Player of the Year, National Team of the Year and Club of the Year — alongside the women’s awards. For Nigerian fans, the Lagos ceremony will still be a celebration of African football on home soil, even with no Super Eagles star in the main race.
Both players still have time to force their way back into the conversation next year. But for now, the message from CAF is clear: Nigeria’s stars must earn their place back among Africa’s elite. Fans can also check today’s football predictions ahead of the weekend fixtures.
Photos: Wikimedia Commons (public domain) — collage by SportsBuddy
