The Confederation of African Football named the 10 nominees for its 2026 Men’s Player of the Year award on Wednesday, November 4, and the omissions are driving the conversation. Victor Osimhen, Ademola Lookman and Mohamed Salah are not on the list. The winner will be announced at the CAF Awards in Lagos on Monday, December 7, at the Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and Creative Arts.
The nominees are Amad Diallo (Ivory Coast, Manchester United), Yoane Wissa (DR Congo, Newcastle United), Antoine Semenyo (Ghana, Manchester City), Ismael Saibari (Morocco, Bayern Munich), Achraf Hakimi (Morocco, Paris Saint-Germain), Brahim Diaz (Morocco, Real Madrid), Ismaila Sarr (Senegal), Pape Gueye (Senegal), Sadio Mane (Senegal, Al-Nassr) and Teboho Mokoena (South Africa). Morocco and Senegal each have three nominees. Hakimi, who won the 2025 award, is the reigning champion and heads the list. CAF says nominations reflect performances for club or country during the period under consideration, and ten players were named in each of seven men’s categories. Nigeria did get a nomination for Women’s National Team of the Year, but no Nigerian man made the Player of the Year list.
Fans see the names that are missing, but the list shows what the voters value. Three Moroccans and three Senegalese point to national-team success weighing heavily, and Mokoena’s place shows the net reaches beyond Europe’s biggest leagues. Salah and Osimhen have strong goal numbers in the Turkish league this season, so their absence also raises a fair question: how much does the assessment period decide the outcome? CAF has not explained its reasoning in the coverage reviewed.
– Nominees announced November 4, 2026; ceremony in Lagos on December 7
– Hakimi (Morocco) is the defending winner
– Morocco and Senegal have three nominees each
– Osimhen, Salah and Lookman are not on the list
Who should win African Player of the Year, and who should have been on the list? Make your case.
0 Comments