CAF Awards 2026: Lamine N’Diaye, Regragui and Pape Thiaw among Coach of the Year nominees

Ten club and national-team coaches are in contention for the African Coach of the Year award

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CAF Awards 2026: Lamine N’Diaye, Regragui and Pape Thiaw among Coach of the Year nominees

CAF has unveiled the ten nominees for the 2026 African Coach of the Year award, with Lamine N’Diaye, Walid Regragui, Pape Thiaw and seven other tacticians making the list.

The Confederation of African Football has announced the nominees for the men’s Coach of the Year category. The list features four coaches recognised for their work at club level and six tacticians who managed national teams during the period under consideration.

Algeria, South Africa, Egypt and Morocco are represented by coaches who reached continental finals, while several national-team bosses made their mark through performances at the Africa Cup of Nations or the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

The ten CAF Awards 2026 Coach of the Year nominees

Lamine N’Diaye - USM Alger
Pedro Leitão Brito “Bubista” - Cabo Verde
Sébastien Desabre - DR Congo
Hossam Hassan - Egypt
Moatamed Gamal - Zamalek SC
Alexandre Santos - AS FAR
Mohamed Ouahbi - Morocco
Walid Regragui - former Morocco head coach
Pape Thiaw - former Senegal head coach
Miguel Cardoso - Mamelodi Sundowns

𝗖𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿 (𝗠𝗲𝗻) - 𝗡𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗲𝘀 #CAFAwards2026 https://t.co/EJo9sXsU71
— CAF (@CAF_Online) November 4, 2026

N’Diaye and Cardoso claim continental honours

Lamine N’Diaye guided USM Alger to a double in 2025-26. The Algerian club won the Algerian Cup before defeating Zamalek on penalties to lift the CAF Confederation Cup. The Senegalese coach added that trophy to the CAF Champions League title he had won with TP Mazembe in 2010.

Miguel Cardoso, meanwhile, led Mamelodi Sundowns to their second CAF Champions League crown. The South African side defeated AS FAR 2-1 on aggregate in the final, one season after finishing runners-up in the same competition.

Moatamed Gamal took charge of Zamalek during the campaign and went on to win the Egyptian Premier League while also reaching the Confederation Cup final. Alexandre Santos is included after steering AS FAR to the Champions League final.

Six coaches recognised for national-team achievements

Mohamed Ouahbi succeeded Walid Regragui as Morocco head coach in March 2026 before guiding the Atlas Lions to the World Cup quarter-finals. He had previously won the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2025. Regragui, who is also nominated, had taken Morocco to the Africa Cup of Nations final before stepping down.

Pape Thiaw won the Africa Cup of Nations with Senegal in January 2026. The Lions of Teranga later reached the World Cup Round of 32. Hossam Hassan took Egypt to the last 16, the Pharaohs’ best-ever finish at the tournament.

Bubista led Cabo Verde to their first World Cup appearance and a place in the Round of 32. Sébastien Desabre ended DR Congo’s 52-year absence from the tournament before his side were eliminated by England at the same stage.

CAF has not ranked the ten nominees. The winner will be announced at the CAF Awards 2026 ceremony in Lagos, Nigeria, on 7 December.

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