{"id":61674,"date":"2026-11-04T22:52:45","date_gmt":"2026-11-04T19:52:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesauditimes.net\/en\/?p=61674"},"modified":"2026-11-04T22:52:45","modified_gmt":"2026-11-04T19:52:45","slug":"hakimi-starts-his-title-defence-as-caf-names-10-contenders-for-african-player-of-the-year-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesauditimes.net\/en\/hakimi-starts-his-title-defence-as-caf-names-10-contenders-for-african-player-of-the-year-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Hakimi starts his title defence as CAF names 10 contenders for African Player of the Year 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Ten players, three of them Moroccan and three Senegalese, are in the running to be named Africa&#039;s best footballer of 2026. The Confederation of African Football published its men&#039;s nominations on Wednesday, 4 November 2026, ahead of the awards ceremony in Lagos, Nigeria, on Monday, 7 December. Paris Saint-Germain&#039;s Achraf Hakimi heads the list as the reigning winner, and the Saudi Pro League has three stars across the player and goalkeeper categories.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Player of the Year: Hakimi is joined by fellow Moroccans Brahim Diaz of Real Madrid and Ismael Saibari of Bayern Munich, by Senegal&#039;s Sadio Mane of Al-Nassr, Ismaila Sarr and Pape Gueye, and by Antoine Semenyo (Ghana), Amad Diallo (Cote d&#039;Ivoire), Yoane Wissa (DR Congo) and Teboho Mokoena (South Africa), the only nominee playing on the continent.<\/li>\n<li>Mohamed Salah: the Egypt forward does not appear among this year&#039;s ten Player of the Year nominees.<\/li>\n<li>Goalkeeper of the Year: Al-Hilal&#039;s Yassine Bounou is chasing a third win after his 2023 and 2025 awards. His nine rivals include Senegal&#039;s Edouard Mendy of Al-Ahli, Egypt&#039;s Mostafa Shobeir and El-Mahdi Soliman, and Morocco&#039;s Ahmed Reda Tagnaouti.<\/li>\n<li>Coach of the Year: Morocco have two names on the list, Mohamed Ouahbi and Walid Regragui, alongside Senegal&#039;s Pape Thiaw, Egypt&#039;s Hossam Hassan, Cabo Verde&#039;s Bubista and Mamelodi Sundowns&#039; Miguel Cardoso.<\/li>\n<li>National Team of the Year: Morocco, Egypt, Senegal, Algeria and Tunisia are among the ten teams nominated.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Hakimi won the 2025 award after a season in which he lifted the UEFA Champions League with Paris Saint-Germain, and he goes into this year&#039;s race defending that crown.<\/p>\n<p>Source: Confederation of African Football, Kawowo Sports, Africa Soccer<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ten players, three of them Moroccan and three Senegalese, are in the running to be named Africa&#039;s best footballer of 2026. The Confederation of African Football published its men&#039;s nominations on Wednesday, 4 November 2026, ahead of the awards ceremony in Lagos, Nigeria, on Monday, 7 December. Paris Saint-Germain&#039;s Achraf Hakimi heads the list as the reigning winner, and the Saudi Pro League has three stars across the player and goalkeeper categories. Player of the Year: Hakimi is joined by fellow Moroccans Brahim Diaz of Real Madrid and Ismael Saibari of Bayern Munich, by Senegal&#039;s Sadio Mane of Al-Nassr, Ismaila<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":61675,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-61674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is 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