2026 African Ballon d'Or: Ten nominees, and the ceremony returns to Lagos on December 7

Ten players are in the running for the 2026 African Player of the Year title, with the winner to be announced on December 7, 2026, in Lagos, Nigeria. The list, reported by RFI, includes three Moroccans, three Senegalese, one Ivorian, one Congolese from the DRC, one Ghanaian, and one South African.

The defending champion, Moroccan full-back Achraf Hakimi (Paris Saint-Germain), is a candidate to succeed himself. He is joined by his compatriots Brahim Diaz (Real Madrid) and Ismael Saibari (Bayern Munich). Senegal is represented by Ismaila Sarr (Crystal Palace), Pape Gueye (Villarreal), and Sadio Mané (Al-Nassr). They are joined by Amad Diallo (Ivory Coast, Manchester United), Yoane Wissa (DR Congo, Newcastle United), Antoine Semenyo (Ghana, Manchester City), and Teboho Mokoena (South Africa, Mamelodi Sundowns).

A list that shows where Africa plays

Nine of the ten nominees play outside the continent, in Europe or the Gulf. The tenth, Mokoena, is the only one recognized from an African club, the Mamelodi Sundowns of Johannesburg, who also placed full-back Khuliso Mudau among the nominees for the Interclub Player of the Year award, alongside Egypt's Mahmoud Hassan "Trezeguet" (Al Ahly) and Morocco's Mohamed Rabie Hrimat (AS FAR).

In the women's category, Malawian sisters Tabitha Chawinga (Olympique Lyonnais) and Temwa Chawinga (Kansas City Current) are both nominated for the African Player of the Year title, along with Zambian Barbra Banda (Orlando Pride), South African Thembi Kgatlana (Tigres UANL), and Cameroonian Monique Ngock (Washington Spirit). Edouard Mendy (Senegal, Al Ahli) and Ronwen Williams (South Africa, Mamelodi Sundowns) are among the nominated goalkeepers, and coaches Pape Thiaw (Senegal), Sébastien Desabre (DR Congo), Hossam Hassan (Egypt), Walid Regragui, and Mohamed Ouahbi (Morocco) are among the nominees for coach of the year.

Lagos hosts the gala again

The location is symbolic. The ceremony will be held at the Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and Creative Arts in Nigeria's economic capital, which had not hosted the CAF Awards since 2015, according to Africa Top Sports. The date of December 7 was announced by the Nigerian Football Federation, as reported by Yabiladi and Afrik-Foot; the Confederation of African Football had selected Lagos as early as the summer of 2026.

A fifteen-member CAF delegation, led by its head of security Christian Emeruwa, inspected the facilities, according to Yabiladi. Nigeria will also host the 48th CAF Ordinary General Assembly on November 21, 2026, at the Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre in Abuja.

One notable absence remains: Victor Osimhen, the 2023 African Ballon d'Or winner and star striker for the host nation, does not appear on the list of ten. The Super Eagles will play their qualification matches for the 2027 AFCON a few weeks before Lagos turns on the spotlights.