Two Portuguese coaches nominated for best of the year in Africa

THEAlexandre Santos, now working for Petro de Luanda, but who coached FAR Rabat last season, and Miguel Cardoso, coach of South African Mamelodi Sundowns, are the two Portuguese representatives in the race for the distinction, which recognizes the best coach of the year in African football.

Cardoso, who has been in charge of Sundowns since the end of 2024, won the African Champions League last season, in which they beat FAR Rabat, from Santos, in the final, having also finished runner-up in South Africa, behind champion Orlando Pirates.

Alexandre Santos is among those nominated for the positive performance he had in the African ‘Champions’, in which he led the Moroccan team to the decision, and, in contrast, he finished the Moroccan championship in fourth place.

This season, the coach coached Nacional in four matches, but recently left for Angolan side Petro Luanda, returning to a team he had already coached between 2021 and 2024.

The list of nominees for best coach in 2026 also includes Bubista, winner of the award last year and who took the Cape Verde team to the 2026 World Cup, in which the ‘blue sharks’ reached the round of 32, the Moroccans Walid Regragui and Mohamed Ouahbi, the Senegalese Pape Thiaw and Lamine N’Diaye, the Egyptians Hossam Hassan and Moatamed Gamal, and the Congolese Sébastien Breaks Down.

CAF also announced the nominees for other categories of the annual awards, which distinguish the main protagonists of African football, including players, young talents and national teams.

The list of nominees for player of the year at the CAF Awards 2026 is made up of Ivorian Amad Diallo, a colleague of Portuguese internationals Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot at Manchester United, Congolese Yoane Wissa, Ghanaian Antoine Semenyo, Moroccans Ismael Saibari, Achraf Hakimi and Brahim Díaz, Senegalese Ismaïla Sarr, Pape Gueye and Sadio Mané, and South African Teboho Mokoena.

For the award for best national team of the year, Algeria, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Congo, Egypt, Ghana, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia compete.

The 10 goalkeepers nominated for the best of the year award are Algerian Oussama Benbot, Cape Verdean Vozinha, Ivorian Yahia Fofana, Congolese Lionel Mpasi, Egyptians El Mahdy Soliman and Mostafa Shobeir, Moroccan Ahmed Reda Tagnaouti, Moroccan Yassine Bounou, Senegalese Édouard Mendy and South African Ronwen Williams.

The CAF Awards 2026 ceremony is scheduled for December 7th, in Lagos, Nigeria, where the winners of the various categories will be announced.