Africa’s biggest night in football has been brought forward: the 2026 CAF Awards will now take place in Lagos on Wednesday 2 December.
Main image: DGBN graphic. Photo: 4toscenethesis / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) confirmed on Tuesday that the ceremony, originally set for 7 December, will start at 7pm local time at the Professor Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and the Arts, the landmark formerly known as the National Theatre.
In its statement, CAF said the new date brings forward one of the most prestigious events on the continent’s sporting calendar, gathering its finest players, coaches and teams in Lagos.
Lagos back on the big stage
It is the first time Lagos has hosted the awards since the 2014 edition, which was held in January 2015 and saw Yaya Touré win the men’s prize for a record fourth year in a row and Nigeria’s Asisat Oshoala take the women’s award. The city also staged the event in 2008 and 2013.
This year’s ceremony covers 18 categories. Voting by CAF member associations and clubs, including eligible coaches and captains, runs from 5 to 20 November, with CAF promising independent monitoring of the results.
Hakimi defends, Salah missing
Morocco and Paris Saint-Germain captain Achraf Hakimi, last year’s winner, leads a Moroccan trio on the ten-man shortlist for the men’s award alongside Brahim Díaz and Ismael Saibari. The rest of the list features Amad Diallo (Ivory Coast), Yoane Wissa (DR Congo), Antoine Semenyo (Ghana), Senegal’s Ismaila Sarr, Pape Gueye and Sadio Mané, and South Africa’s Teboho Mokoena.
Two-time winner Mohamed Salah is not on the list, an omission that has raised eyebrows. Nor is any Nigerian: the hosts have no player in the men’s top prize race and no nominee in the other men’s categories, while the Super Falcons missed out on the leading women’s awards, according to Punch.
On the women’s side, WAFCON champions Cameroon dominate, with Monique Ngock, goalkeeper Michaely Bihina and Marie Ngah Manga all in contention, alongside Zambia’s Barbra Banda, Malawi’s Temwa and Tabitha Chawinga, and South Africa’s Thembi Kgatlana.
A shadow over Morocco’s AFCON title
The Moroccan nominations come with an unresolved backdrop. Morocco were awarded the Africa Cup of Nations title after Senegal walked off in the final over a disputed penalty, and a ruling on Senegal’s appeal is expected at the end of November, just days before the ceremony. DGBN has followed the case closely: Senegal fight for AFCON crown at sport’s highest court as CAS decision nears.
Why it matters
For Nigeria, hosting the continent’s football elite is a chance to showcase Lagos as a capital of African sport and culture, even if its own stars are watching from the audience. For fans across Africa and the diaspora, it is the night the continent crowns its own, on its own soil.