African footballer of the year: debate after Boniface and Salah left off the list

Afcon final form certainly appears to have been a major factor in Caf’s shortlists.

Brighton striker Simon Adingra, who assisted both goals in the final for the Ivory Coast winners, is named in the player of the year list along with Nigerian centre-back William Troost-Ekong and South African goalkeeper Ronwen Williams, who had awesome tournaments.

Soufiane Rahimi was nominated after scoring eight goals in Morocco’s bronze-winning campaign at the Paris 2024 Olympics, and also included his Atlas Lions teammate Achraf Hakimi.

Ivory Coast leads the nominations in the national team category and Elephants coach Emerse Fae is in the running for coach of the year after masterminding their fairytale Nations Cup triumph on home soil.

Elsewhere, Brighton pair Carlos Baleba and Yankuba Minteh are shortlisted for young player of the year along with Leicester City midfielder Bilal El Khannouss.

Caf has not yet announced the nominees in the women’s categories and the awards ceremony will be held in Marrakech, Morocco, on December 16.