African Ballon d’Or 2026: Achraf Hakimi leads CAF Awards contenders

The CAF Awards 2026 will take place in Lagos, Nigeria, on Wednesday, 2 December, with defending champion Achraf Hakimi the leading candidate to retain the African Footballer of the Year prize. He faces nine other nominees from six national teams, with their chances assessed across five criteria.

Hakimi the clear favourite

Hakimi is rated at 35% after adding the Champions League to his honours with PSG. The Paris club beat Arsenal on penalties on 30 May, with the Morocco captain converting despite playing through a physical problem. PSG also won Ligue 1 in 2025/26.

The 27-year-old started all six of Morocco’s World Cup matches, recording one goal and two assists before the Atlas Lions lost 2-0 to France in the quarter-finals. Across 38 appearances in all competitions, including the World Cup, he scored four goals and supplied 11 assists. He received five yellow cards and one red.

Brahim Diaz is considered Hakimi’s closest challenger, with a 20% chance. His strongest case is the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, where he scored five goals and won the Golden Boot. Morocco lost the final 1-0 after extra time against Senegal, but CAF declared Morocco winners on 17 March after Senegal’s players left the pitch during the final.

His World Cup was less influential: he scored no goals and managed six shots without one on target. Although Real Madrid provide the highest level of club competition, Diaz finished the campaign with only two goals and nine assists in 42 appearances. He collected three yellow cards.

Ismael Saibari is third at 14%. Before moving to Bayern Munich in the summer, he scored 15 goals and made eight assists in 27 Eredivisie matches for PSV Eindhoven, contributing to a goal every 93 minutes. He won the league, the Dutch Super Cup and the award for the championship’s best player.

Saibari also scored three times in seven Champions League games and added three goals in five World Cup appearances. The 25-year-old attacking midfielder was part of Morocco’s 2025 Africa Cup of Nations-winning squad, playing every match and scoring against Cameroon.

Senegal’s contenders

Ismaila Sarr has a 9% chance after helping Crystal Palace win the Europa Conference League. He was the competition’s top scorer with nine goals in 13 matches and ended 2025/26 with 21 goals and two assists in all competitions. He also won the Community Shield after Palace beat Liverpool. Senegal reached the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations final, but was eliminated by Belgium in the World Cup round of 16. Sarr received four yellow cards.

Sadio Mane is rated at 4%. The 34-year-old won the 2025/26 Saudi Arabian championship with Al Nassr, his first domestic trophy since joining the club, contributing 10 goals and six assists in 26 appearances. He finished the previous season with 14 goals and nine assists in all competitions. Senegal suffered the same World Cup round-of-16 exit as Sarr, but Mane was named player of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations after scoring two goals and providing two assists.

Pape Gueye has a 3% chance. He made 39 appearances for Villarreal in 2025/26, scoring five goals and assisting twice, but also received 12 yellow cards. His defining moment was the goal that appeared to give Senegal victory in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations final in Rabat, although CAF’s ruling removed it from the official result. At the World Cup, the 27-year-old midfielder scored twice and assisted once in Senegal’s 5-0 win over Iraq.

The remaining nominees

Antoine Semenyo is given a 7% chance after scoring 17 Premier League goals and making four assists in 2025/26, including 10 for Bournemouth before joining Manchester City in January. He set a record for a Ghanaian in the competition and became the first Ghanaian selected in the PFA Team of the Year. He was also a finalist for the league’s player of the season award.

Ghana lost to Colombia in the World Cup round of 16 and did not qualify for the previous Africa Cup of Nations. Semenyo’s campaign was strengthened by Manchester City’s FA Cup and Carabao Cup victories. The 27-year-old winger finished the 2025/27 season with seven yellow cards.

Teboho Mokoena, rated at 5%, won the 2025/26 CAF Champions League with Mamelodi Sundowns, who defeated AS FAR. He scored in the second leg of the final and was named player of the match, while also winning the FIFA Africa-Asia-Pacific Cup with the Brazilians. He played 41 club matches, scoring seven goals and providing two assists, but received nine yellow cards and one red.

South Africa lost to Canada in the World Cup round of 16, despite Mokoena scoring against Czech Republic. The Bafana Bafana also failed to reach the Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finals.

Amad Diallo has a 2% chance after ending 2025/26 without a trophy with Manchester United, although he scored four goals and supplied two assists in 32 Premier League appearances. Ivory Coast lost to Germany before a 2-1 defeat by Norway in the World Cup round of 16; Diallo scored twice in the tournament. His Africa Cup of Nations campaign ended in the quarter-finals against Egypt, with three goals and one assist.

Yoane Wissa is the outsider at 1%. Since joining Newcastle United in September 2025, he has managed three goals and two assists in 28 appearances, with four yellow cards. His highlight was a Champions League goal in four matches. DR Congo lost to England late in the World Cup round of 16, while Wissa scored three times in the tournament. He missed the previous Africa Cup of Nations because of a serious injury and has no team trophy during the period under review.