Sports events, stars that will make 2026 memorable

AFCON 2025

Sports in Nigeria and Africa will enter 2026 in exciting soccer mood given that the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2025 is ongoing. The 2025 event dovetailed into the New Year will magical football artistry to look forward to.

The best of African stars, highlighted by Nigerian top striker Victor Osimhen, Egyptian talisman Mo Salah and reigning African Player of the Year Achraf Hakimi are on parade representing their countries.

This is the height of African rivalry on soccer pitch and it will be more competitive coming after the conclusion of the World Cup Qualifiers to the 2026 World Cup.

Imagine the interest a duel between Nigeria and South Africa will generate and another between Nigeria and Congo DR will draw?

It is indeed a thrilling way to kick off the New Year for every Sports lover.

THE WORLD CUP

The 2026 World Cup is approaching next summer and most of the biggest soccer stars will arrive in the United States, Canada and Mexico to represent their national teams at the best football tournament in the world. Though, Nigeria’s Super Eagles didn’t qualify for the Mundial, it will no doubt take any shine away from the global fiesta. The highpoint of the competition will be the fact that some iconic figure in football will be coming to their final World Cup. The last one of some of the most influential athletes of the past decades such as Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Luka Modric, among others will be featuring. So, all eyes will be on them to see how they will round off an illustrious career: on the high or on the low.

Without doubt, Messi of Argentina, the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner and 2022 World Cup champion will attract attention. Messi is considered one of the best players in the history of the game and after spending the majority of his club career at Barcelona over his extraordinary career, he won 10 LaLiga titles, seven Copa Del Rey, eight Spanish Supercups, four Champions Leagues, three UEFA Super Cups and three Club World Cups with Barcelona. Two Ligue 1 titles and one Trophée des Champions with won PSG before lifting the Leagues Cup with Inter Miami.

While Messi the world will be looking saying farewell to the Argentine captain, it will be welcoming another born star, Lamine Yamal, Spain. 

This is going to be the World Cup of Lamine Yamal. At least, this is the expectation. After dominating the scene at the 2024 Euro with Spain, and winning twice the Kopa Trophy as the best young player in the world, Yamal will lead Spain at the summer tournament as La Roja will try to win their second ever World Cup after the 2010 edition in South Africa.

Names like Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele both of  France, and Vinicius Jr, Brazil, will expectedly be eyed to make 2026 memorable, especially at the World Cup. Mbappe is a World Cup veteran. The French superstar has been one of the best players in the last two World Cups he played with France. After winning the 2018 World Cup in Russia, Mbappe scored a hat trick in the unforgettable final played against Argentina in 2022, becoming the second-ever player to score three goals in a World Cup final after Geoff Hurst in 1966 for England.

As for Vinicius Jr, the Brazilian winger is called to make the difference also with his national team after winning 14 major trophies with Real Madrid, including three LaLiga titles, two UEFA Champions League titles, three Spanish Super Cups, two UEFA Super Cups, three FIFA Club World Cups, and one Copa del Rey, while Dembele, the 2025 Ballon d’Or winner is expected to respond well at the World Cup.

2026 WOMEN’S AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS

Advertisement

Another hot sports event that people the world will be interested in is the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations. The competition will be held around two months after AFCON 2025 comes to an end and we expect it to be as exciting.

The 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations will be the first tournament of its kind to feature 16 different teams. This represents a significant change from 12 teams.

Fortunately, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) is doing what it can to develop women’s football across the continent.

Another key factor you should know about the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations is that it will be the qualifier for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup. In other words, the teams that perform best will receive a slot for that event. It will be interesting to see the belief mentality of the defending country Nigeria and how the women teams of Morocco and South Africa will try to stop them.

SUMMER YOUTH OLYMPIC GAMES DAKAR 2026

The 2026 Dakar Summer Youth Olympic Games will hold its 4th edition from October 31 and November 13, 2026, in Dakar. What makes the event so important is that it is the first Olympic-affiliated competition that will be held on African soil.

Based on the information, more than 2,700 athletes are expected to participate in the event. The games themselves will be across 25 different sports like basketball, boxing, cycling, judo, and many more.

It is no surprise that the Dakar 2026 Summer Youth Olympic Games are important for everyone who likes online betting. Since it offers so many sports, bookmakers in Africa will do what they can to allow people to bet on it. Locals can expect to find good odds and even special types of bonuses, such as odds boosts.

2026 World Athletics Relay

This is another big tournament in 2026, unfortunately, Nigeria will not be there. Taking place in Gaborone, the capital city of Botswana, this 8th edition of the Relays will hold between May 2 and 3.

The 2026 World Athletics Relay marks a historic moment. Botswana will become the first African country to host the World Athletics Relay and it will draw attention to the country in many ways. It also reinforces Africa’s growing role and visibility in global athletics.

BOXING

Looking at boxing, which is undergoing real challenge, especially at the heavyweight division, where there seems to be a scarcity of world class athletes that would make the world shout for more. Among the will be prominently make the stage are undisputed heavyweight champion, Usyk, Tyson Fury, Daniel Dubois, and our won Anthony Joshua.

Joshua is at the moment in hospital after a fatal auto crash in Nigeria, while on holiday. 2026 will mostly be about how the two-time heavyweight champion will fare and wither he would be psychologically and physically ready to return to the ring in 2026. This is because he lost two close friends and boxing partners in the accident. This will decide if Joshua vs Fury will happen.

2026 COMMONWEALTH GAMES

The last but not the least is the 2026 Commonwealth Games to be hosted by Glasgow, Scotland, bringing together athletes from the Commonwealth.

Advertisement

Nigerians will be looking forward to how Nigeria will fare at the 2026 commonwealth with Tobi Amusan head lighting the arrays of stars, not to forget the upcoming young stars that want to use The Commonwealth to launch themselves.