Nigeria has faced a big loss at the 2026 Confederation of African Football (CAF) Awards. The country did not get any nominations in the seven men’s categories announced by CAF on Wednesday.
This is a major blow for Nigerian football, which had winners of the Men’s Player of the Year award for 2023 and 2024. Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman were the stars during those years.
But this time, neither Osimhen, who plays for Galatasaray, nor Lookman from Atletico Madrid made the shortlist for 2026. This means Nigeria will not be represented for the continent's top individual men’s award.
The situation is worse than just missing out on two players. No Nigerian player, goalkeeper, coach, club, or national team is in any of the seven men’s categories that CAF announced.
The nominated categories include Men’s Player of the Year, Goalkeeper of the Year, Interclub Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, Young Player of the Year, National Team of the Year, and Club of the Year.
Nigeria's absence is shocking, especially since it has recently done well in the continent’s biggest awards.
Osimhen won the 2023 award after an impressive season with Napoli. He became the first Nigerian to win this award since Nwankwo Kanu in 1999.
Lookman followed up with the 2024 award after a great season with Atalanta. He even scored a historic hat-trick in the UEFA Europa League final against Bayer Leverkusen.
These wins ended Nigeria's long wait for back-to-back winners of the men’s award since Kanu and Victor Ikpeba won in 1996 and 1997.
Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi broke this streak by winning the 2025 award and is among the favorites to win again.
Other nominees for the 2026 awards include Senegal’s Sadio Mané, Ismaila Sarr, and Pape Gueye; Ghana’s Antoine Semenyo; Morocco’s Brahim Diaz and Ismael Saibari; Côte d’Ivoire’s Amad Diallo; DR Congo’s Yoane Wissa; and South Africa’s Teboho Mokoena.
Nigerian goalkeepers Stanley Nwabali and Maduka Okoye are also left out of the goalkeeper category. They did not make the list of 10 nominees.
South Africa’s Ronwen Williams, Morocco’s Yassine Bounou, and Senegal’s Edouard Mendy are among those nominated.
Nigeria also missed out in the coaching category. Super Eagles manager Eric Chelle was not included.
The shortlist features Senegal’s Pape Thiaw, Morocco’s Walid Regragui and Mohamed Ouahbi, DR Congo’s Sébastien Desabre, and Egypt’s Hossam Hassan.
Nigeria is also missing in the Men’s National Team of the Year category. Algeria, Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, DR Congo, Egypt, Ghana, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa, and Tunisia are all nominated.
This disappointment comes after Nigeria failed to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The Super Eagles’ journey ended in November 2025 when they lost to DR Congo in the African play-off final. The match ended 1-1 after extra time, and Nigeria lost 4-3 on penalties.
DR Congo then took one of Africa’s World Cup spots, while Nigeria missed out on the expanded 48-team tournament.
The club category is not any better, with Nigerian clubs not on the shortlist. That list includes top teams like Mamelodi Sundowns, USM Alger, Zamalek, and AS FAR.
Beyond the disappointing men’s nominations, Nigeria only got three nominations in the women’s category. This is a big drop from what the country used to achieve.
Despite these setbacks, Nigeria is still one of Africa’s top football nations. The country has three Africa Cup of Nations titles and six FIFA World Cup appearances by the Super Eagles.
Nigeria has also produced many past African Footballer of the Year winners, like Rashidi Yekini, Emmanuel Amunike, Victor Ikpeba, Nwankwo Kanu, Osimhen, and Lookman.
The 2026 CAF Awards ceremony will be held in Lagos on 7 December. The event will gather the continent’s top football figures to celebrate achievements at club and international levels.
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