Lagos to stage 2026 CAF Awards as Nigeria prepares to welcome African football elite

Lagos has been confirmed as the host city for the 2026 CAF Awards, with Nigeria set to welcome the annual ceremony celebrating the leading figures in African football for the first time since 2015.

The exact date has yet to be announced by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), but the event will take place at the Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and the Creative Arts, one of the main cultural complexes in Nigeria’s economic capital.

The decision means Nigeria will once again stage CAF’s major annual awards evening 11 years after the ceremony was last held in the country. Nigeria is also due to host the 48th CAF Ordinary General Assembly in October.

However, CAF has not confirmed whether the awards ceremony and the assembly will be held during the same period. For now, only the host nation, city and venue have been officially confirmed.

The African Player of the Year award is expected to remain the main prize of the evening. Particular attention will focus on the identity of the man who succeeds Achraf Hakimi, who won the men’s award at the previous edition.

There will be a similar level of interest in the women’s category, where Ghizlane Chebbak will defend the title she claimed at the last ceremony.

The previous CAF Awards were heavily influenced by Morocco, with the country taking several of the most significant prizes. Performances by Moroccan players in both the men’s and women’s game, at international and club level, helped establish Morocco as the leading nation of the evening.

Subject to CAF’s final confirmation of the programme, the ceremony is also expected to include awards for the best goalkeeper, best coach, best young player, best club, best national team and best interclub player. A prize for the best goal of the year is also expected to be presented.

The announcement gives Nigeria its next major continental football event, although the timetable for the CAF Awards remains outstanding. CAF is yet to state when Lagos will host the ceremony or confirm whether it will coincide with the organisation’s general assembly in October.

The awards will also provide an early opportunity to assess whether Morocco can maintain its recent dominance of the CAF honours. The country’s success at the previous edition reflected the impact of its players and teams across both domestic club football and the international game.

Until the official schedule is released, the focus remains on the confirmed setting: Lagos, and the Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and the Creative Arts. The venue will host one of African football’s most closely watched nights, with the successors to Achraf Hakimi and Ghizlane Chebbak among the principal questions still to be answered.