The Confederation of African Football "CAF" announced on Tuesday that the CAF Awards 2026 ceremony will take place on Wednesday 2 December in the Nigerian city of Lagos. It marks the ceremony's return to the city for the first time since the 2014 edition.
The Professor Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and the Arts, known as the National Theatre, will host a ceremony spanning 18 different categories. Chief among them are Best Player (men's and women's) in Africa, alongside the awards for Best Coach, Best Goalkeeper, Best Young Player, Best Club and Best National Team.
The Confederation of African Football confirmed that voting has already begun and runs from 5 to 20 November. Member associations and clubs take part, alongside coaches and the captains of teams eligible to vote. CAF stressed their commitment to fairness and transparency, involving the game's various stakeholders and relying on independent monitoring to guarantee the integrity of the results.
Salah's absence and a prominent Moroccan presence
Moroccans dominate the nominees for the 2026 Best African Player award. The trio of Paris Saint-Germain's Achraf Hakimi, Real Madrid winger Brahim Diaz and Bayern Munich's Ismael Saibari all make the cut, while Mohamed Salah, the Trabzonspor star, is nowhere to be seen.
Four Arab talents in the race for the best
Four names carry the Arab flag in the Best Young Player in Africa award: Morocco's Ayoub Bouaddi, the Manchester City star, Egypt's Hamza Abdelkarim of Barcelona, Morocco's Abdellah Ouazane of Ajax, and Algeria's Ibrahim Maza, the Bayer Leverkusen man.
Zamalek competes for the Best Club award
Ten clubs make up the Best Club in Africa category. South Africa's Mamelodi Sundowns and Algeria's USM Alger lead the way, alongside CR Belouizdad, the Moroccan trio of AS FAR, Olympic Safi and Berkane, Egypt's Zamalek, ASEC Mimosas from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan's Al-Hilal, and Tunisia's Esperance.
Egyptian presence in the Best Coach race
The Best Coach in Africa award pits Arab rivals against each other. Egypt national team manager Hossam Hassan and Zamalek's Moatamed Gamal feature, as do the Moroccans Walid Regragui, the former Morocco boss, and Mohamed Ouahbi, the current coach of the Atlas Lions.
Shobeir and El-Mahdi Soliman in strong competition
Egypt field a duo in the Best Goalkeeper award: Al-Ahly's Mostafa Shobeir and Zamalek's El-Mahdi Soliman. They go up against Morocco's Yassine Bounou, the Al-Hilal keeper, his compatriot Ahmed Reda Tagnaouti of AS FAR, Algeria's Oussama Benbot of USM Alger, and Senegal's Edouard Mendy, the Al-Ahli goalkeeper.
Trezeguet and Shehata in the race for Best Player in the continent
Several Arab names feature in the Best Player in Africa award. Most notably, the Egyptians Mahmoud Hassan Trezeguet, the former Al-Ahly player now at Saudi Arabia's Al-Riyadh, and Zamalek midfielder Mohamed Shehata. They are joined by the Moroccans Mohamed Rabie Hrimat, the former AS FAR player now at Qatar's Al-Shamal, Mounir Chouiar of Berkane, and Soufiane Rahimi... Soufiane El-Mouden of Olympic Safi.
Now African fans wait for the Lagos ceremony in December, with fierce competition across the individual and collective awards and a striking Arab presence in several categories. Salah's absence remains the biggest surprise on the nomination lists.