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The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has moved the 2026 CAF Awards ceremony forward from December 7 to December 2.
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Nigeria is set to host the continental football awards for the first time since 2017, with Lagos welcoming Africa’s biggest football personalities for the third time in the history of the ceremony.
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The 2026 edition will be a disappointing one for Nigerian senior footballers, as no Super Eagles or Super Falcons player made the shortlist for the Men’s and Women’s Player of the Year awards.
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Despite the absence of Nigerian senior players in the major individual categories, the country will have representatives in other award categories.
November 10, (THEWILL) – The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has rescheduled the 2026 CAF Awards ceremony to December 2 in Lagos as it returns to Nigeria for the first time since 2017.
CAF announced on Tuesday that the award ceremony has been brought forward from Monday, 7 December, to Wednesday, 2 December 2026.
The ceremony will be held at the iconic Professor Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and the Arts (National Theatre), Lagos, where Africa’s leading football personalities will gather for a night of recognition and celebration.
The ceremony is scheduled to begin at 7:00 pm local time.
The Award is returning to Lagos for the first time since 2014 and the third time in the history of the ceremony that it will be held in Nigeria’s largest city.
The CAF Awards 2026 will honour excellence across 18 categories, with the prestigious CAF Men’s Player of the Year and CAF Women’s Player of the Year awards taking centre stage.
Other categories include coaches, goalkeepers, emerging talents, clubs and national teams whose performances have inspired millions of football supporters across Africa and around the world.
The voting for the 2026 awards is ongoing and will run from November 5 to 20 across the men’s and women’s categories.
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While Nigeria will be hosting the award ceremony, no Nigerian senior player is in the running in the men’s and women’s category.
For the first time since 2001, No Super Falcons player was nominated for the women’s player of the year award.
Similarly, no Super Eagles player made the shortlist for the men’s player of the year award for the first time since 2015.
However, Flamingos Olukemi Adegbuyi was nominated for the best young player of the year alongside Janet Akekoromowei, while Edo Queens goalkeeper Christiana Uzoma is in the running for the goalkeeper of the year award.
