The Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced on Tuesday that it has moved forward the date of the 2026 Best Awards Ceremony, to be held next December 2 in the Nigerian city of Lagos, instead of the 7th of the same month.
CAF did not explain the reason for changing the date, but Nigerian media reported that some European clubs showed reluctance to allow their players to participate in the ceremony previously scheduled for December 7, which prompted the Continental Confederation to set a new date for the event.
The CAF Awards return to Lagos for the first time since the 2014 edition, as the largest city in Nigeria hosts one of the most prominent annual events in African football, which brings together the stars of the game in addition to cultural, artistic and entertainment events.
The Best Player and Best Female Player awards on the continent top the list of awards given out in 18 different categories.
The ceremony also honors the best coaches, goalkeepers, emerging talents, clubs and national teams that left a prominent mark during the year.
The voting process for the 2026 awards has already begun, from November 5 to 20, with the participation of national federations and clubs, in addition to coaches and team leaders eligible to vote.
CAF said that the voting mechanism is subject to independent oversight with the aim of ensuring integrity, transparency, and representation of the various components of African football in selecting the winners.
Last week, CAF announced the list of candidates for the 2026 African Player of the Year award, which was devoid of the name of Egypt’s national team captain Mohamed Salah, for the second time in the last 11 years.
The absence of the Turkish Trabzonspor striker represents a repetition of what happened in the 2024 edition, after the Egyptian star maintained an almost permanent presence on the award’s shortlists since 2015.
Salah is considered one of the most prominent stars of the award during the last decade, after winning it in 2017 and 2018, and coming in runner-up in 2019, 2022 and 2025, while he came third in 2023.
During the past 11 years, Salah was only absent from the shortlist in the 2024 and 2026 editions, noting that the award was not awarded in 2020 and 2021 due to the repercussions of the “Covid-19” pandemic.
The shortlist included 10 players; Among them are 3 Moroccans and 3 Senegalese, led by Achraf Hakimi and Sadio Mane.
The list also includes Amad Diallo from the Ivory Coast, Yoan Wissa from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Antoine Semenyo from Ghana, Ismael Sibari, Achraf Hakimi and Ibrahim Diaz from Morocco, Ismaila Sarr, Pape Gueye and Sadio Mane from Senegal, and Thiboho Mokoena from South Africa.
Cristiano Ronaldo Jr.'s call-up to the Portugal U-17 national team came just one week after his father ended an exceptional international career, in a remarkable coincidence between the end of an era and the beginning of another.
Cristiano Ronaldo's eldest son made his way through the junior teams of the Saudi Al-Nasr Club, whose colors his father has been defending since 2023, making the 16-year-old the subject of early comparisons with one of the greatest football players.
The promising striker is 1.91 meters tall, already superior to his father physically, and it seems that he inherited the scoring instinct from him. However, he still has a long way to go if he wants to come close to the extraordinary legacy left behind by Ronaldo Sr.
The Portuguese star played his first international match in 2003 when he was eighteen years old, before ending his international career with 146 goals in 234 matches.
Ronaldo Junior will hope to make his own mark during the European Under-17 Championship qualifiers, when Portugal faces Andorra on Wednesday, before facing Bulgaria and Serbia.
Ronaldo Jr. is not the first son of a legend to follow in his father's footsteps. While some children of stars found it difficult to break free from the weight of comparisons, others succeeded in building remarkable careers that made independent names for them.
The following are the most prominent examples of this:
Cesare, Paolo and Daniele Maldini
Paolo Maldini is one of the greatest defenders in football history; He spent his entire career with Milan and played more than 100 international matches for Italy. He was preceded by his father, Cesare, who also wore the Milan shirt, while his son Daniel, the current Cagliari player, played several matches with the Italian national team.
Diego and Giuliano Simeone
Diego Simeone played more than 100 international matches for Argentina, emerging as a ferocious midfielder before becoming one of the most successful coaches with Atletico Madrid. As for his son Giuliano, who belongs to a family that also includes professional players Giovanni and Gianluca, he inherited the same fighting spirit, and currently occupies the striker position at Atletico Madrid, and was also part of the Argentina squad in the 2026 World Cup.
George and Timothy Weah
George Weah is considered one of the greatest African players of all time. He is the Liberian striker who won the Ballon d'Or in 1995. As for his son, Timothy, who was born in New York, he continued his career at the highest levels, playing with the American national team since 2018, and joining Olympique de Marseille last season from Juventus.
Johan and Jordi Cruyff
Carrying the name Johan Cruyff was not an easy task for Jordi, the son of the Dutch legend and one of the most prominent playmakers in history. Although he did not reach the status of his father, he carved out a respectable career for himself that included spells with Barcelona and Manchester United.
A-Ing Haaland and Erling Haaland
Alf-Inge Haaland enjoyed a good career in England with Nottingham Forest, Leeds United and Manchester City, but his son Erling has far surpassed his achievements, becoming one of the most dangerous strikers in the world.
Since moving to Manchester City from Borussia Dortmund in 2022, Haaland has led his team to two Premier League titles and scored 121 goals in 142 matches.
Lillian and Marcus Thuram
Lilian Thuram was one of the pillars of the French team that won the 1998 World Cup, while his son Marcus continues to write his own story in European stadiums. He starred with Borussia Mönchengladbach before moving to Inter Milan, and also participated with France in the 2022 and 2026 World Cups.
Peter and Kasper Schmeichel
Peter Schmeichel is ranked among the greatest goalkeepers in the history of Manchester United, having won five English Premier League titles, in addition to his contribution to Denmark's 1992 European Championship win.
His son Casper followed the same approach, as he goalkeeper for the Danish national team and reached the peak of his career with Leicester City when he led them to the historic English Premier League title in the 2015-2016 season.
Striker Marcus Thuram will miss France's matches against Italy and Turkey in the European Nations League, Thursday, in Milan and Sunday, in Bordeaux, due to an injury to the posterior thigh muscle, according to what the technical staff of the French national football team announced on Tuesday.
He will be replaced by Elie Junior Cropi, who was called up for the first time to the Blues ranks.
The technical staff explained: “Marcus Thuram felt a strain in the posterior muscle of his right thigh, on Sunday, during the match against Como (in the Italian League). This discomfort continued, which prevented him from participating in the training session on Monday, where he underwent treatment.
He continued: “Given that his condition did not improve this morning, and after conducting tests, and in agreement with Inter and the player, the French national team’s medical staff decided to allow him to return to his club.”
This injury is bad news for Thuram (29 years old, played 35 international matches and scored three goals); He had not been summoned by coach Zinedine Zidane during his first camp as head of the French national team at the end of September.
However, the Inter Milan striker, who started the season well with the Italian champions, scoring six goals, benefited from the absences of a number of strikers, including Ousmane Dembélé, Esteban Lupul and Magnes Akliush, to return to Zidane’s list on Friday.
On the other hand, Thuram's injury opened the door for Elie Junior Cropi to have his first experience with the senior French national team at the age of twenty.
The Bournemouth player, who graduated from the Lorient Academy, caught attention last season by scoring 13 goals in the English Premier League. But last summer he suffered a foot injury that required him to undergo surgery.
After achieving three victories and one draw in four matches, the French team leads Group A in the European Nations League, and appears in a very comfortable position to reach the quarter-finals before playing the last two matches in the group stage against Italy and Turkey.
