No Nigerian footballer, including Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen, made the 10-man shortlist for the 2026 CAF Men’s Player of the Year award announced on Wednesday.
The nominees, announced by CAF on its X handle, include Senegal’s Sadio Mané, Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi and Ivory Coast’s Amad Diallo, with the winner expected to be announced at the CAF Awards ceremony scheduled for December 7 in Lagos.
They are joined by seven other players from across the continent in the race for the award ahead of the 2026 CAF Awards ceremony scheduled to hold in Lagos on Monday, December 7.
The omission marks the first time a Nigerian player has been absent from the category in many years.
It comes against the backdrop of Nigeria’s failure to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the top global tournament of the year.
Eagles lost to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the African play-off final in November 2025.
They drew 1-1 with DR Congo after extra time before losing 4-3 on penalties, ending their hopes of reaching the tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
However, Nigeria finished third at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco, which ran from December 21, 2025, to January 18, 2026.
The men’s shortlist announcement comes a day after PUNCH Online reported that no Super Falcons player was nominated for the Women’s Player of the Year award.
The Falcons, however, made the shortlist for the Women’s National Team of the Year category.
The full list of nominees
Men’s Player of the Year award
Amad Diallo (Ivory Coast)
Yoane Wissa (DR Congo)
Antoine Semenyo (Ghana)
Ismael Saibari (Morocco)
Achraf Hakimi (Morocco)
Brahim Diaz (Morocco)
Ismaila Sarr (Senegal)
Pape Gueye (Senegal)
Sadio Mane (Senegal)
Teboho Mokoena (South Africa)
Other categories announced by CAF include the Men’s Young Player of the Year, Men’s Goalkeeper of the Year, Men’s National Team of the Year, Men’s Club of the Year and Men’s Coach of the Year.
The 10 nominees for the Men’s Young Player of the Year award are Ibrahim Maza, Christian Kofane, Christ Inao, Yan Diomande, Hamza Abdelkarim, Caleb Yirenkyi, Ismaël Kamissoko, Abdellah Ouazane, Ayoub Bouaddi and Ibrahim Mbaye.
The nominees for the Men’s Goalkeeper of the Year award are Oussama Benbot (Algeria), Vozinha (Cabo Verde), Yahia Fofana (Ivory Coast), Lionel Mpasi (DR Congo), El Mahdy Soliman and Mostafa Shobeir (Egypt), Ahmed Reda Tagnaouti and Yassine Bounou (Morocco), Édouard Mendy (Senegal) and Ronwen Williams (South Africa).
For the Men’s National Team of the Year award, Algeria, Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, DR Congo, Egypt, Ghana, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia made the shortlist.
The Club of the Year category features CR Belouizdad, USM Alger, AS Maniema Union, Zamalek SC, AS FAR, Olympic Club Safi, RS Berkane, Mamelodi Sundowns, Al Hilal SC and ES Tunis.
Meanwhile, Lamine N’Diaye, Pedro Leitão Brito, popularly known as Bubista, Sébastien Desabre, Hossam Hassan, Moatamed Gamal, Alexandre Santos, Mohamed Ouahbi, Walid Regragui, Pape Thiaw and Miguel Cardoso are nominated for the Men’s Coach of the Year award.
The 2026 CAF Awards ceremony is scheduled to take place in Lagos on Monday, December 7.
