Mohamed Salah omitted from CAF 2026 African Player of the Year shortlist

Mohamed Salah has been left out of the nominees for the 2026 CAF African Player of the Year award, ending his run of regular appearances on the shortlist.

The Egypt captain and Trabzonspor forward was not included in the list announced by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). It is the first time Salah has missed out since 2024.

Salah had been nominated for the award every year from 2015 through to last year, apart from 2024. Across the past 11 years, he has therefore been absent from the shortlist only twice – in 2024 and 2026.

He has won the African Player of the Year award twice, in 2017 and 2018. He finished second in 2019, 2022 and 2025, and was third in 2023. The award was not held in 2020 or 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The 10 nominees for the 2026 prize are:

– Amad Diallo – Manchester United – Ivory Coast – Yoane Wissa – Newcastle United – Democratic Republic of the Congo – Antoine Semenyo – Manchester City – Ghana – Ismaila Sarr – Bayern Munich – Morocco – Achraf Hakimi – Paris Saint-Germain – Morocco – Brahim Diaz – Real Madrid – Morocco – Ismaila Sarr – Crystal Palace – Senegal – Pape Gueye – Villarreal – Senegal – Sadio Mane – Al Nassr – Senegal – Teboho Mokoena – Mamelodi Sundowns – South Africa

The CAF awards also feature several other Egyptian contenders.

Zamalek are nominated for the African Club of the Year award, while Egypt and Barcelona forward Hamza Abdelkarim is in contention for the Young Player of the Year prize.

Egypt are also nominated for the African National Team of the Year award. Their manager, Hossam Hassan, is shortlisted for Coach of the Year alongside Zamalek manager Moataz Gamal.

Former Al Ahly player Mahmoud Hassan “Trezeguet”, now with Al-Riyadh, and Zamalek midfielder Mohamed Shehata are among the nominees for African-based Player of the Year.

The goalkeeping award includes Al Ahly goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir and Zamalek goalkeeper Al-Mahdi Soliman.