Three Nigerian players, Christiana Uzoma, Oluwakemi Adegbuyi and Janet Akekoromowei, have earned nominations for the 2026 Confederation of African Football (CAF) Awards following impressive performances for club and country.
CAF announced the nominees on Tuesday, November 3, ahead of the awards ceremony scheduled for December 7 in Lagos, Nigeria.
The Super Falcons also received a nomination for the Women’s National Team of the Year award despite their disappointing 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) campaign.
Nigeria’s title defence ended in a 1-0 quarter-final defeat to eventual champions Cameroon, ruling them out of contention for qualification for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Uzoma earned a nomination for the Women’s Goalkeeper of the Year award after an impressive season with Edo Queens and Nigeria’s youth teams.
The 17-year-old played a key role for Edo Queens in the Nigeria Women Football League (NWFL) and the WAFU-B Women’s Champions League qualifiers before captaining the Falconets at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Poland.
She took over the captaincy after regular skipper Joy Igbokwe missed the tournament due to visa issues. Her performances also earned her a maiden senior Super Falcons call-up for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic qualifiers.
Uzoma will compete against Cameroon’s Michaely Bihina, Morocco’s Khadija Er-Rmichi, South Africa’s Andile Dlamini and Ghana’s Cynthia Konlan for the award. Bihina won the Golden Glove at the 2026 WAFCON.
Meanwhile, Nigeria has two representatives in the Women’s Young Player of the Year category, with Adegbuyi and Akekoromowei making the 10-player shortlist.
Adegbuyi, 16, enjoyed an outstanding 2025/26 campaign with FC Robo, scoring 11 goals to claim the NWFL Player of the Season and Super Six Most Valuable Player awards.
She also won the Most Valuable Player award at the WAFU-B U-17 Girls Cup in Yamoussoukro. The youngster was recently released from the Super Falcons camp to join the Flamingos ahead of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco.
Akekoromowei, 18, earned her nomination following impressive performances for Portuguese club SL Benfica and the Falconets, where she established herself as a prolific goalscorer.
She has also received a call-up to the Super Falcons squad for their Olympic qualifying fixtures against Comoros.
CAF said winners will be determined through votes from its Technical Committee, selected media representatives, national team captains and coaches.
Join the conversation
Comments
Want to discuss? Please read our Commenting Policy first.