Nigeria’s Victor Osimhen, Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi and Egypt’s Mohamed Salah have been confirmed as the final contenders for the prestigious 2025 CAF Player of the Year award, with the winner to be announced on Wednesday in Rabat.
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) revealed the three-man shortlist on Sunday, narrowing the field to some of the continent’s biggest stars. The ceremony is scheduled for November 19 in the Moroccan capital.
Hakimi, captain of the Atlas Lions and a key figure for Paris Saint-Germain, enters the final vote as the favourite after a remarkable season in which he helped PSG secure a historic quadruple—winning Ligue 1, the UEFA Champions League, the French Cup and the Champions Trophy. His performances also earned him a 6th-place finish in the global France Football Ballon d’Or rankings.
Egyptian forward Mohamed Salah, a two-time winner of the award in 2017 and 2018, returns to the final shortlist following another influential year for club and country. Nigeria’s Victor Osimhen, who claimed the African Player of the Year title in 2022, is also in contention after a strong season that reaffirmed his status as one of Africa’s most lethal forwards.
