Miss World 2026: Nigeria’s Karibi-George reaches Top 12 as Dominican Republic takes crown

Joheirry Mola Dominguez of the Dominican Republic won Miss World 2026 on Saturday, taking the crown at the 73rd edition’s grand finale in Nha Trang, Vietnam. Her victory gave the Dominican Republic its second Miss World title, 44 years after Mariasela Álvarez won in 1982.

Mola succeeded Thailand’s Suchata “Opal” Chuangsri, who won the 2025 competition and crowned her successor. Spain’s Elisabeth Reynés Alabern finished as first runner-up, while Malaysia’s Taanusiya Chetty placed second runner-up and also won the Beauty with a Purpose award for her social impact work.

Nigeria’s representative, Tamunosoye Karibi-George, popularly known as Soye, reached the Top 12 but failed to make the final six. Her progress followed an automatic place in the Top 40, secured after she won the Africa Top Model title at the Vietnam Beauty Fashion Fest. She defeated contestants from Botswana, Equatorial Guinea, Kenya and South Africa for the continental modelling award.

The final six included Mola, Reynés Alabern, Chetty, Vietnam’s Lê Nguyễn Bảo Ngọc, South Africa’s Romanda Hombir and Eritrea’s Snit Habteab Tewoldemedhin. Mola, 24, is a literature and social studies teacher, professional model, news correspondent and community advocate. She holds a business management degree and founded Voices of Tomorrow, an initiative focused on English-language education for children and young people in vulnerable communities.

Mola’s education advocacy featured prominently in the final stage and continued the pageant’s “Beauty with a Purpose” emphasis on social impact and community work. Karibi-George, 26, is from Port Harcourt in Rivers State and represented Bayelsa State at Nigeria’s national pageant. She was crowned Miss World Nigeria 2026 in June in Lagos, succeeding Joy Mojisola Raimi, who reached the Top 20 in 2025. Karibi-George works as a communications professional, model, actress, voice-over artist, event host and scriptwriter.