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Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen and other Nigerian footballers have been left out of the 10-man shortlist for the 2026 Confederation of African Football (CAF) Men’s Player of the Year award.
CAF announced the nominees on Wednesday, with players from Senegal, Morocco, Ivory Coast, Ghana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Africa featuring on the list.
The nominees include Senegal’s Sadio Mané and Ismaila Sarr, Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi and Brahim Díaz, and Ivory Coast’s Amad Diallo. Ghana’s Antoine Semenyo and DR Congo’s Yoane Wissa also made the shortlist.
The omission means Nigeria will have no representative in the continent’s top individual men’s football award category this year, despite the country’s third-place finish at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco.
Nigeria’s absence from the shortlist also follows the Super Eagles’ failure to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The Eagles lost to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the African play-off final in November 2025. The match ended 1-1 after extra time before DR Congo won 4-3 on penalties, ending Nigeria’s hopes of reaching the tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
The men’s shortlist announcement came a day after reports that no Super Falcons player had been nominated for the Women’s Player of the Year award. Nigeria, however, secured a nomination in the Women’s National Team of the Year category.
The full list of nominees for the Men’s Player of the Year award includes Amad Diallo (Ivory Coast), Yoane Wissa (DR Congo), Antoine Semenyo (Ghana), Ismael Saibari (Morocco), Achraf Hakimi (Morocco), Brahim Díaz (Morocco), Ismaila Sarr (Senegal), Pape Gueye (Senegal), Sadio Mané (Senegal) and Teboho Mokoena (South Africa).
Other categories announced by CAF include 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 nominees for Men’s Young Player of the Year are Ibrahim Maza, Christian Kofane, Christ Inao, Yan Diomande, Hamza Abdelkarim, Caleb Yirenkyi, Ismaël Kamissoko, Abdellah Ouazane, Ayoub Bouaddi and Ibrahim Mbaye.
For Men’s Goalkeeper of the Year, the nominees 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).
Algeria, Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, DR Congo, Egypt, Ghana, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia are shortlisted for Men’s National Team of the Year.
The Men’s Club of the Year nominees are CR Belouizdad, USM Alger, AS Maniema Union, Zamalek SC, AS FAR, Olympic Club Safi, RS Berkane, Mamelodi Sundowns, Al Hilal SC and ES Tunis.
The Men’s Coach of the Year shortlist features 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.
The 2026 CAF Awards ceremony is scheduled to hold in Lagos on December 7.
