Osimhen, Salah, Hakimi lead race for 2025 CAF Player of the Year Award

Also shortlisted are Egypt and Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah and Moroccan and Paris Saint-Germain defender Achraf Hakimi.

Other nominees include Cameroon’s Frank Anguissa, Congo’s Fiston Mayele, Gabon’s Denis Bouanga, Guinea’s Serhou Guirassy, Morocco’s Oussama Lamlioui, and Senegalese duo Iliman Ndiaye and Pape Matar Sarr.

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced the nominees for the 2025 CAF Awards – Men’s Categories on Thursday.

The awards celebrate Africa’s best players, coaches, clubs, and national teams.

“The impact of players and coaches on the African and global game has been immense for the period under review, from 6 January to 15 October 2025. These nominations highlight those who have made major contributions to football on the continent,” CAF stated.

The governing body added that a panel comprising CAF Technical and Development Committee members, experienced coaches, CAF Legends, and selected media representatives chose ten nominees for each category based on performances across all competitions.

Nigeria’s first-choice goalkeeper, Stanley Nwabali, was also nominated for Goalkeeper of the Year. He faces strong competition from Yassine Bonou (Morocco), Ronwen Williams (South Africa), Andre Onana (Cameroon), and Edouard Mendy (Senegal).

Other categories include Interclub Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, Young Player of the Year, National Team of the Year, and Club of the Year.

Below is the full list of nominees:

Men’s Player of the Year

• Andre Frank Zambo-Anguissa (Cameroon/Napoli)

• Fiston Mayele (DR Congo/Pyramids)

• Mohamed Salah (Egypt/Liverpool)

• Denis Bouanga (Gabon/Los Angeles FC)

• Serhou Guirassy (Guinea/Borussia Dortmund)

• Achraf Hakimi (Morocco/Paris Saint-Germain)

• Oussama Lamlioui (Morocco/RS Berkane)

• Victor Osimhen (Nigeria/Galatasaray)

• Iliman Ndiaye (Senegal/Everton)

• Pape Matar Sarr (Senegal/Tottenham Hotspur)

Men’s Goalkeeper of the Year

• Andre Onana (Cameroon/Trabzonspor)

• Vozinha (Cape Verde/Chaves)

• Ahmed El Shenawy (Egypt/Pyramids)

• Munir Mohamedi (Morocco/RS Berkane)

• Yassine Bonou (Morocco/Al Hilal)

• Stanley Nwabali (Nigeria/Chippa United)

• Edouard Mendy (Senegal/Al Ahli)

• Marc Diouf (Senegal/Tengueth)

• Ronwen Williams (South Africa/Mamelodi Sundowns)

• Aymen Dahmen (Tunisia/CS Sfaxien)

Men’s Interclub Player of the Year

• Ismael Belkacemi (Algeria/Al Ahli Tripoli)

• Blati Toure (Burkina Faso/Pyramids FC)

• Issoufou Dayo (Burkina Faso/RS Berkane)

• Fiston Mayele (DR Congo/Pyramids)

• Ahmed Samy (Egypt/Pyramids)

• Emam Ashour (Egypt/Al Ahly)

• Ibrahim Adel (Egypt/Pyramids)

• Mohamed Hrimat (Morocco/AS FAR)

• Mohamed Chibi (Morocco/Pyramids)

• Oussama Lamlioui (Morocco/RS Berkane)

• Shomari Kapombe (Tanzania/Simba)

Men’s Coach of the Year

• Bubista (Cape Verde)

• Hossam Hassan (Egypt)

• Krunoslav Jurcic (Pyramids)

• Sami Trabelsi (Tunisia)

• Romuald Rakotondrabe (Madagascar CHAN)

• Moine Chaabani (RS Berkane)

• Tarik Sektioui (Morocco CHAN)

• Mohamed Ouahbi (Morocco U-20)

• Walid Regragui (Morocco)

• Pape Thiaw (Senegal)

Men’s Young Player of the Year

• Asharaf Tapsoba (Burkina Faso/Real du Faso)

• Alynho Haidara (Côte d’Ivoire/Mainz 05 Jacqueville)

• Noah Sadiki (DR Congo/Sunderland)

• Abdellah Ouazane (Morocco/Ajax)

• Houssam Essadak (Morocco/US Touarga)

• Othmane Maamma (Morocco/Watford)

• Daniel Bameyi (Nigeria/Primorje)

• Momoh Kamara (Sierra Leone/Minnesota United)

• Mbekezeli Mbokazi (South Africa/Orlando Pirates)

• Tylon Smith (South Africa/Queens Park Rangers)

Men’s National Team of the Year

• Algeria

• Cape Verde

• Côte d’Ivoire

• Egypt

• Ghana

• Morocco U-20

• Morocco

• Senegal

• South Africa

• Tunisia

Men’s Club of the Year

• CR Belouizdad (Algeria)

• CS Constantine (Algeria)

• ASEC Mimosas (Côte d’Ivoire)

• Pyramids (Egypt)

• RS Berkane (Morocco)

• Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa)

• Orlando Pirates (South Africa)

• Stellenbosch (South Africa)

• Al Hilal (Sudan)

• Simba (Tanzania)