With the 2026 African Ballon d’Or to be awarded on 7 December in Lagos, Nigeria, there is already a declared candidate: Pape Guèye. Interviewed on the programme “Talents d’Afrique” on the pay channel Canal+ Sport Afrique, the Villarreal and Senegal midfielder (27, 48 caps, 7 goals) made no secret of his dream of winning and believes in his chances. “Of course… We’ll find out very soon. I’m not someone who is going to sell himself. I think I’ve done quite a lot of good things. I managed to score at important moments for my country, for my country’s history. Now, it’s not up to me to vote, we’ll see. But at the start of the season, I always write down my targets: goals, assists, matches played, team and individual trophies. And it’s true that the African Ballon d’Or was one of my targets. Now we’ll wait for the votes and hope for good news.”

A fate hanging on the CAS verdict?

Named the best African player in the Spanish league last season, Pape Guèye scored the one and only goal of the AFCON 2025 final before the result was overturned in Morocco’s favour by the Appeal Board of the Confederation of African Football (Caf). The verdict of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), expected at the end of November, could influence the jury.

In the meantime, the former OM player can already count on the support of his Ivorian team-mate Nicolas Pépé. In an interview with Dazn in mid-October, the latter said that “if he wins it (the African Ballon d’Or, Ed.), it will be totally deserved”.

With Afrik-Foot