The continent’s biggest night in football now arrives five days earlier, with Lagos hosting the CAF Awards for the first time in 12 years.
Want our football coverage to show up first?
Add FootballInNigeria as a preferred source and our stories get a "Preferred" badge in your Google Top Stories, AI Overviews, and AI Mode results.
The Confederation of African Football has moved the 2026 CAF Awards forward by five days. The ceremony now takes place on Wednesday, December 2, instead of Monday, December 7, as FootballInNigeria.com.ng reports.
The venue is unchanged: the Professor Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and the Arts, better known as the National Theatre, in Lagos. The evening starts at 7:00pm local time. It is the first time Nigeria has hosted the awards since the 2014 edition.
CAF will hand out honours across 18 categories. The Men’s and Women’s Player of the Year awards are expected to headline the night. Coaches, goalkeepers, emerging talents, clubs and national teams will also be recognised.
Voting is already open and runs from November 5 to November 20 for the men’s and women’s categories. CAF Member Associations and clubs vote, and eligible coaches and team captains also have a say. Punters planning ahead for a busy football month can check today’s Bet9ja promo code.
CAF says the process is built to give broad representation across African football. Independent monitoring will protect the integrity of the vote.
The men’s nominees were unveiled on November 4. Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi, the reigning holder, is on the list alongside Senegal’s Sadio Mane and Ghana’s Antoine Semenyo.
Nigeria has reasons to watch the ballot closely. The Super Falcons are one of ten nominees for Women’s National Team of the Year. The Flamingos’ U-17 World Cup triumph last Saturday adds to a strong year for Nigerian women’s football.
Preparations in Lagos are well advanced. An inspection team has already cleared the National Theatre, and Lagos State has promised security and logistics support. New Bet9ja users can read about Bet9ja’s YOHAIG welcome bonus before the December football calendar fills up.
The earlier date tightens the schedule for everyone involved. Voting closes on November 20, which leaves about 12 days before the ceremony.
Can Lagos deliver a night worthy of a 12 year wait? The venue, the date and the voting window are all set. The rest is up to the organisers.
Nigerian fans will follow the results closely. Those who enjoy a flutter on African football can read how to claim your Bet9ja bonus before December’s action.
📌 Did You Know?
- CAF announced the women’s nominees on Tuesday, November 3, a day before the men’s list, with ten nominees in each of the first four women’s categories.
- Cameroon’s Bihina won the Golden Glove at the Women’s AFCON in Morocco and is among the women’s nominees.
- The Women’s National Team of the Year shortlist includes Cabo Verde and Malawi alongside Morocco, Ghana and South Africa.
- Mamelodi Sundowns beat Morocco’s AS FAR 2-1 on aggregate in the continental final, which helped shape this year’s coaching shortlist.
- Morocco’s Walid Regragui and Senegal’s Pape Thiaw are among the coaching nominees.
- Nigeria hosts the awards in a year when the Super Eagles missed the World Cup finals in North America.
