The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has announced that the 2026 Best of Africa Awards ceremony has been brought forward by five days, and will now take place on Wednesday 2 December instead of 7 December at the Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and the Arts in Lagos, Nigeria. The decision was made in an official statement without giving reasons, after CAF had set the previous date last October.
The ceremony starts at 7pm local time in Nigeria, 8pm Cairo time and 6pm GMT. Awards will be presented in 18 categories, chief among them Best Player and Best Women’s Player, as well as Best Coach, Best Goalkeeper, Best Young Player, and Best Club and Best National Team in the continent.
Voting began on 5 November and continues until 20 November, with the participation of member associations, clubs, coaches and team captains who meet the voting criteria. CAF stressed that the process is subject to independent monitoring to ensure the integrity of the results.
Arab presence in the nominations and Salah’s absence
The Best Player shortlist includes three Arab nominees, all from Morocco: Achraf Hakimi, the reigning winner, Ismail Saibari and Brahim Díaz. In the Best Women’s Player category, Morocco’s Hanane Aït El Haj and Algeria’s Marin Dafour appear.
On the Egyptian side, Zamalek are competing for the Best Club award, the Egypt national team is among the nominees for Best National Team, and Hamza Abdel Karim is in the running for Best Young Player. In the Best Player Based in Africa category, Mahmoud Trezeguet and Mohamed Shehata feature, while Mostafa Shobeir and El Mahdi Soliman compete for the Best Goalkeeper award.
In a notable surprise, the African Player of the Year shortlist is without the name of Mohamed Salah, captain of the Egypt national team and Trabzonspor player, despite his standing and what he has achieved in his career. The absence draws the attention of observers, especially as Salah has been accustomed to being among the leading contenders in past years.
Lagos marks the ceremony’s return after an absence since the 2014 edition, giving the event a symbolic dimension alongside the competitive aspect. Moroccan and Arab audiences await the outcome of the vote in the categories featuring nominees from the region. What does this change mean for the nominees? The answer remains tied to the ballot boxes until 20 November.
InfoSport figures
- 5 days: the difference between the old and new dates of the ceremony.
- 18 categories: the number of awards presented in the 2026 edition.
- 15 days: the duration of voting from 5 to 20 November.
Here is a summary of the key details of the ceremony: the date of 2 December, the celebration venue in Lagos, and voting open until 20 November. You can follow InfoSport articles for the latest awards news.
