African Player of the Year: nominations for Brahim and Diomande

Real Madrid's Brahim and Yan Diomande are among the nominees for CAF African Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year respectively.

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has announced the nominees for the 2026 African Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year awards. Real Madrid duo Brahim and Yan Diomande are among the favourites in their respective categories.

Brahim, who won the Africa Cup of Nations after Senegal's title was annulled by CAF's appeals committee for non-appearance in the final, is competing against Amad Diallo, Ydane Wissa, Antoine Semenyo, Imael Saibari, Achraf Hakimi, Isaïla Sarr, Pape Gueye, Sadio Mané and Teboho Mokoena.

Diomande, an Ivorian winger, is the favourite for Young Player of the Year after an impressive season at Leipzig before joining Real Madrid. He has scored four goals and provided four assists in 14 appearances this season. Other nominees include Barcelona's Hamza Abdelkarim and players from Manchester City, Bayer Leverkusen, Fiorentina and other top European clubs.

Cape Verde manager Bubista is also nominated for Coach of the Year following the nation's impressive World Cup campaign, where they topped their group ahead of Spain, Uruguay and Saudi Arabia.