Ghana’s wait for another CAF Men’s Player of the Year award continues, 34 years after Abedi Ayew Pele became the first and only Ghanaian to win the prestigious honour.
Antoine Semenyo is the latest player hoping to end that drought after earning a nomination for the 2026 award following an impressive year for club and country.
The Manchester City forward is among 10 players shortlisted after recording 15 goals and eight assists in 42 appearances across club and international football in 2026.
However, he faces a difficult task, with several Ghanaian players having come close to winning the award over the past three decades.
Former Bayern Munich defender Samuel Osei Kuffour is one of Ghana’s closest contenders, finishing second in 1999 and 2001 behind Nigeria’s Nwankwo Kanu and Senegal’s El Hadji Diouf, respectively.
Michael Essien also enjoyed a remarkable run in the rankings. The former Chelsea midfielder finished second in 2007 and third in 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2009, making him one of Ghana’s most consistently recognised players in the award’s history.
Asamoah Gyan finished second in 2010 after helping Ghana reach the quarter-finals of the FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
Andre Ayew also reached the podium twice, finishing third in 2011 and 2015. Several other Ghanaians have earned nominations but failed to make the final three.
In 2010, Kevin-Prince Boateng and Andre Ayew were included in the initial 10-man shortlist alongside Gyan but missed out on the final selection, with Gyan progressing to the final five.
Ayew was Ghana’s sole representative on the 2012 shortlist, while Kwadwo Asamoah and Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu failed to make the final 10. Semenyo will now hope to go a step further and become only the second Ghanaian to win the CAF award.
Abedi Pele claimed the honour in 1992 after an outstanding spell with Olympique Marseille. He remains Ghana’s most recent winner. He also won the France Football African Player of the Year award 3 consecutive times (1991, 1992, and 1993).
Ghana had two other African Footballer of the Year winners before CAF introduced its current award, with Ibrahim Sunday winning in 1971 and Karim Abdul Razak in 1978. However, neither won the CAF-administered prize.
Semenyo will have his chance to end the 34-year wait when the 2026 CAF Awards are held in Lagos, Nigeria, on December 7.
