Moroccan defender Achraf Hakimi has been named the 2025 African Footballer of the Year, adding another landmark to a season in which he seemed to be everywhere — for Paris Saint-Germain, for Morocco and across European football’s biggest stages.
The Confederation of African Football announced the award Wednesday night in Rabat, confirming what many around the sport had already assumed. A panel of experts and leading African football journalists selected the PSG right-back, marking the first time he has claimed the continent’s top individual honour.
Hakimi arrived at the ceremony as the clear favourite after a year in which PSG swept four major trophies — Ligue 1, the UEFA Champions League, the Coupe de France and the Trophée des Champions. He also finished sixth in the 2025 Ballon d’Or voting, a sign of how widely his influence was felt beyond the French league.
His numbers tell part of the story. Hakimi logged more than 3,400 minutes across all competitions. In Ligue 1, he scored six goals and provided four assists; in the Champions League, he added five goals and four assists. He also anchored a back line that helped deliver 10 clean sheets. The consistency earned him spots in the UEFA Champions League Team of the Season, the Ligue 1 Team of the Season and the CAF Team of the Year.
The 27-year-old beat out two familiar contenders: Egypt’s Mohamed Salah and Nigeria’s Victor Osimhen.
The awards gala also recognised some of the strongest performers across African football. Nigeria’s Super Falcons were named Women’s Team of the Year, and Chiamaka Nnadozie — one of the continent’s standout goalkeepers — collected the Women’s Goalkeeper of the Year award. Morocco’s Yassine Bounou took home the Men’s Goalkeeper Award.
Cape Verde’s national team coach, Pedro Leitão Brito — better known as Bubista — was named Men’s Coach of the Year after guiding the island nation to its first-ever World Cup qualification for 2026, a milestone that electrified one of Africa’s smallest footballing nations.
CAF also used the evening to honour three East African heads of state: Kenya’s President William Ruto, Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan and Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni. Each received the CAF President’s Outstanding Achievement Award for what the organisation described as their contributions to football’s growth across the continent.
CAF, led by its president Patrice Motsepe, said the recognition stemmed in part from the three countries’ recent co-hosting of the African Nations Championship — an event that, according to the organisation, delivered improved stadiums, better logistics and a higher standard of operations. The collaboration, CAF noted, set “new standards for excellence on and off the pitch” and offered a model for future regional partnerships.
The 2025 ceremony in Rabat brought all these strands together — the rise of new talent, the celebration of established stars and the increasing ambition of African football’s leadership. For Hakimi, the continent’s most decorated player this year, it capped a season where each stage seemed bigger than the last.
