CAF Awards: Osimhen, Lookman missing as Nigeria gets zero nominations in men’s categories

Nominees for the Men's Player of the Year

Nigeria has suffered a major setback at the 2026 Confederation of African Football (CAF) Awards, failing to secure a single nomination across all seven men’s categories unveiled by the continental football governing body on Wednesday.

The development represents a striking reversal for Nigerian football, which produced consecutive winners of the prestigious Men’s Player of the Year award in 2023 and 2024 through Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman.

However, neither the Galatasaray striker nor the Atletico Madrid forward made the 10-man shortlist for the 2026 edition, leaving Nigeria without representation in the continent’s leading individual men’s award.

The omission extends beyond the two former winners. No Nigerian player, goalkeeper, coach, club or national team features in any of the seven men’s categories announced by CAF.

The nominations include the 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 particularly striking given its recent dominance of the continent’s biggest individual award.

Osimhen won the 2023 edition after an outstanding season with Napoli, becoming the first Nigerian to claim the honour since Nwankwo Kanu in 1999.

Lookman followed in 2024 after an impressive campaign with Atalanta, where he scored a historic hat-trick in the UEFA Europa League final against Bayer Leverkusen.

Their successive victories also ended Nigeria’s long wait for consecutive winners of the men’s award since Kanu and Victor Ikpeba achieved the feat in 1996 and 1997.

Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi broke Nigeria’s recent dominance by winning the 2025 award and is among the leading contenders to retain the honour.

Other nominees for the 2026 edition 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.

The absence of Nigerian players from the goalkeeper category is another setback, particularly for Super Eagles goalkeepers Stanley Nwabali and Maduka Okoye, who were not considered among the 10 nominees.

South Africa’s Ronwen Williams, Morocco’s Yassine Bounou and Senegal’s Edouard Mendy are among the recognised goalkeepers.

Nigeria also failed to secure a nomination in the coaching category, where Super Eagles manager Eric Chelle is absent.

The shortlist features Senegal’s Pape Thiaw, Morocco’s Walid Regragui and Mohamed Ouahbi, DR Congo’s Sébastien Desabre and Egypt’s Hossam Hassan, among others.

The country’s absence extends to the Men’s National Team of the Year category, where Algeria, Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, DR Congo, Egypt, Ghana, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia are nominated.

Nigeria’s failure to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup provides an important backdrop to the latest disappointment.

The Super Eagles’ hopes of reaching the tournament ended in November 2025 after they lost to DR Congo in the African play-off final. The encounter ended 1-1 after extra time before Nigeria lost 4-3 on penalties.

DR Congo subsequently secured one of Africa’s World Cup qualification places, while Nigeria missed out on the expanded 48-team tournament.

The club category offers no respite either, with Nigerian sides absent from a shortlist featuring continental champions Mamelodi Sundowns, USM Alger, Zamalek, AS FAR and other leading African clubs.

Aside from the disappointing men’s nominations, Nigeria managed only three nominations in the women’s category, a far cry from what used to be.

Regardless of these setbacks, Nigeria remains one of Africa’s most successful football nations, with three Africa Cup of Nations titles and six previous FIFA World Cup appearances by the Super Eagles.

The country has also produced several past African Footballer of the Year winners, including Rashidi Yekini, Emmanuel Amunike, Victor Ikpeba, Nwankwo Kanu, Osimhen and Lookman.

The 2026 CAF Awards ceremony will take place in Lagos on 7 December, bringing together the continent’s leading football personalities to celebrate achievements at club and international levels.

Tunde Eludini is a graduate of the Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife, Nigeria where he studied International Relations. He is a Senior Correspondent coordinating the sports section for PREMIUM TIMES. Twitter: @tundeyeludini