The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has released its nominees for the men’s categories of the 2026 CAF Awards, and the Super Eagles are nowhere to be found. Not in the race for Men’s Player of the Year, not among the goalkeepers, not in the coaching category, and not even in the national team nominations.
In fact, Nigeria failed to secure a single nomination across all seven men’s categories announced by CAF on Wednesday, November 4. That is quite a fall for a country that produced two consecutive African Player of the Year winners in Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman in 2023 and 2024.
And just when Nigerian fans thought things could not get more awkward, the awards ceremony will take place in Lagos on December 7. 
Imagine hosting the party and having nobody from your own house on the men’s guest list. Wonderful.
Nigeria absent from CAF Men’s Player of the Year shortlist
The biggest talking point is the absence of a Nigerian player from the Men’s Player of the Year shortlist.
Reigning winner Achraf Hakimi of Morocco leads a star-studded list featuring former winner Sadio Mané, Manchester United’s Amad Diallo, Ghanaian forward Antoine Semenyo and Real Madrid’s Brahim Diaz.
The 10 nominees are:
- Amad Diallo (Côte d’Ivoire/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/Crystal Palace)
- Pape Gueye (Senegal/Villarreal)
- Sadio Mané (Senegal/Al-Nassr)
- Teboho Mokoena (South Africa/Mamelodi Sundowns)
Nigeria’s absence is particularly striking considering that Osimhen won the award in 2023 before Lookman took it home in 2024. The country had two successive winners, only for the 2026 shortlist to arrive without a single Super Eagles representative.
The situation also recalls the 2010 awards, when Nigerian players last failed to make the African Footballer of the Year shortlist. However, the historical comparison needs a little context: John Obi Mikel made the 10-man shortlist in 2012 and reached the final three in 2013. Nigeria also had Vincent Enyeama among the contenders in 2014.
The latest omission therefore marks a fresh low after the country’s recent return to the top individual award, rather than a straightforward 16-year uninterrupted absence.
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No Nigerian goalkeeper, coach or young player either
If Nigerian fans were hoping to find consolation in the other men’s categories, CAF had more disappointment waiting.
The Goalkeeper of the Year shortlist features Algeria’s Oussama Benbot, Cabo Verde’s Vozinha, Côte d’Ivoire’s Yahia Fofana, DR Congo’s Lionel Mpasi, Egypt’s El-Mahdi Soliman and Mostafa Shobeir, Morocco’s Ahmed Reda Tagnaouti and Yassine Bonou, Senegal’s Edouard Mendy and South Africa’s Ronwen Williams. No Nigerian to be found.
The Coach of the Year category also has no Nigerian representation. Its nominees include Senegal’s Pape Thiaw, Morocco’s Walid Regragui and Mohamed Ouahbi, Egypt’s Hossam Hassan, DR Congo’s Sébastien Desabre and Mamelodi Sundowns’ Miguel Cardoso.
The Young Player of the Year shortlist is equally unkind to Nigeria. Ghana’s Caleb Yirenkyi, Algeria’s Ibrahim Maza, Cameroon’s Christian Kofane, Côte d’Ivoire’s Yan Diomande and Senegal’s Ibrahim Mbaye are among the emerging talents recognised by CAF.
Apparently, the Nigerian football pipeline decided to take the year off.
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Super Eagles miss out on CAF awards as African nations dominate team nominations
The National Team of the Year category provides another reminder of Nigeria’s absence from the men’s awards.
CAF shortlisted Algeria, Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, DR Congo, Egypt, Ghana, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia.
Nigeria did not make the cut, despite finishing third at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco.
The continent’s performance at the 2026 FIFA World Cup heavily influenced the nominations. CAF highlighted the record 10 African countries that featured at the tournament, with nine reaching the knockout stage.
Morocco and Senegal have enjoyed particularly strong representation, while Cabo Verde earned recognition after making its historic World Cup debut.
The Club of the Year category also jeers in Nigeria’s face. Mamelodi Sundowns, USM Alger, Zamalek, AS FAR, RS Berkane, Olympic Safi, CR Belouizdad, AS Maniema, Al Hilal and Espérance Sportive de Tunis make up the shortlist.
The Interclub Player of the Year nominees include Sundowns’ Teboho Mokoena and Khuliso Mudau, Al Ahly’s Mahmoud Hassan ‘Trezeguet’ and several players from Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Sudan.
In other words, Nigeria has managed to miss out on all seven men’s categories. That is not a particularly impressive hat-trick (or seven-trick), especially for a country that likes to remind everyone of its footballing pedigree.
CAF Awards 2026 to hold in Lagos
Despite the disappointing nominations, Nigeria will still host the CAF Awards 2026 ceremony in Lagos on Monday, December 7. The event will celebrate the continent’s outstanding players, coaches, clubs and national teams across the men’s and women’s categories.
Nigeria’s absence from the men’s nominations does not mean the country has no representation across the entire awards programme. The women’s categories have their own shortlists, with Nigerian nominees appearing in several of them.
Still, for a nation that once celebrated Osimhen and Lookman winning Africa’s biggest individual football honour back-to-back, the men’s nominations make for uncomfortable reading.
The Super Eagles and Nigerian football authorities will have to do more than wave the Giant of Africa banner if they want the continent’s biggest awards to start recognising them again.
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