CAF Snubs Nigeria, Nominates South Africa, Ghana for National Team of the Year
- The Confederation of African Football (CAF) have unveiled the various men's categories of this year's award
- The African football governing body snubbed Nigeria's football teams from the junior to the senior level
- Nigeria managed to secure three nominations across the seven categories with Victor Osimhen in the men's Player of the Year
CAF has released its list of nominees for the 2025 Awards in the Men's National Team of the Year category.
The Super Eagles were notably snubbed after an underwhelming display in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
The three-time AFCON champions endured a poor start to their campaign, collecting just three points from their first four matches.
Source: Getty Images
Their performance led to the disengagement of two coaches, Jose Peseiro and legend Finidi George, before the appointment of former Mali coach Eric Chelle.
Nigeria eventually emerged second in the CAF qualification group C, securing a playoff spot.
National Team of the Year nominees
CAF has named all the countries that qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the category of the National Team of the Year.
Algeria, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Ghana, Morocco, Morocco U20, Senegal, South Africa, and Tunisia. Cape Verde is making history by qualifying for their first-ever World Cup, per Africa.com.
The surprise inclusion in the nominee is the Morocco U20 national team, who just won the FIFA World Cup after beating Argentina in the final, per BBC.
Nigeria's age-grade teams snubbed
The Nigeria U17 team failed to make a positive impact this year, as the Golden Eaglets missed both the Africa Cup of Nations and the FIFA World Cup for the third consecutive time under Manu Garba.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria U20 team finished third at the Africa Cup of Nations, securing qualification for the World Cup.
However, the Flying Eagles suffered a disappointing exit, losing heavily to Argentina in the Round of 16 after advancing from the group stage with four points.
Fans react
@KuboniSiviwe said:
"For me it's between Cape Verde the smallest population to reach World Cup, Morocco U20 for winning the U20 World Cup and RSA for reaching world cup with 91% African based players.
Source: Getty Images
@GriffinGre12276 wrote:
"Senegal beat England and became the first african team to do so , their illustrious unbeaten record to name a few. Morocco u-20 did especially well too, contention is amongst the two."
@SibzSiba added:
"Give that thing to Ivory Coast, as exciting as Bafana are right now, relinquish that thing."
@lesetjatoona said:
"Which period does this cover? Other than the recent win at the U20 World Cup finals, what qualifies Morocco 🇲🇦’s U20 as a team of the year? Nevermind their national team."
Nigeria leads the race for Women's award
Legit.ng earlier reported that Nigeria leads the race for the 2025 CAF Women's Player of the Year Award after the list of nominees was announced.
Super Falcons stars Esther Okoronkwo and captain Rasheedat Ajibade are in contention for the award, with one of them expected to bring it home.
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Source: Legit.ng
