Football: three Senegalese in contention for 2026 CAF Awards
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Le Soleil
Sadio Mané, Ismaïla Sarr and Pape Gueye are among the Senegalese candidates for African Player of the Year. The ceremony will take place on 2 December 2026 in Lagos, for the first time since 2014, with voting from 5 to 20 November, according to CAF.
Senegal has three candidates in the African Player of the Year category of the 2026 CAF Awards: Sadio Mané (Al-Nassr), Ismaïla Sarr (Crystal Palace) and Pape Gueye (Villarreal), according to Le Soleil. Voting runs from 5 to 20 November, and CAF announces independent oversight to guarantee the transparency of the results.
The ceremony will take place on Wednesday 2 December 2026 in Lagos, Nigeria, from 18:00 GMT, according to a statement from the Confederation of African Football published on 10 November. It returns to Lagos for the first time since 2014 and will award eighteen categories. Sadio Mané, already a winner in 2019 and 2022, would become the first Senegalese player to be crowned three times. Senegal is also represented by Édouard Mendy (goalkeeper), Ibrahim Mbaye (young player), Pape Thiaw and Lamine Ndiaye (coach), as well as the national team.
These nominations follow those unveiled for young players, including Yan Diomandé and Christ Inao, announced on 6 November.
