African Footballer of the Year winners: full CAF list

Last updated: 6 October 2026.

This list of African Footballer of the Year winners covers every men’s champion since the Confederation of African Football (CAF) took over the award in 1992, along with the women’s winners and how the voting works. Nigeria has produced seven men’s winners and more women’s titles than any other country. The current holder is Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi, who won the 2025 award in Rabat. Details come from CAF, BBC Sport, Punch and the award’s records on Wikipedia, and are correct as of October 2026.

The short answer

• Current winner (2025): Achraf Hakimi of Morocco and Paris Saint-Germain. Mohamed Salah was second and Victor Osimhen third.
• Most wins: Samuel Eto’o and Yaya Touré, with four each.
• Nigerian winners: Rashidi Yekini (1993), Emmanuel Amunike (1994), Nwankwo Kanu (1996 and 1999), Victor Ikpeba (1997), Victor Osimhen (2023) and Ademola Lookman (2024).
• Women’s award: won 13 times by Nigerians, six of them by Asisat Oshoala.
• Gaps: no award was given for 2020 or 2021 because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Two awards, one title

From 1970 to 1994, the French magazine France Football ran its own African Golden Ball. CAF launched its official award in 1992. For three years the two existed side by side, which explains why some lists show different winners for 1993 and 1994. France Football named Abedi Pele and George Weah in those years, while CAF chose Yekini and Amunike. The magazine stopped its African award after 1994, when its main Ballon d’Or was opened to players from outside Europe. Weah won that Ballon d’Or in 1995.

CAF African Footballer of the Year winners, 1992–2025

• 1992: Abedi Pele (Ghana)
• 1993: Rashidi Yekini (Nigeria)
• 1994: Emmanuel Amunike (Nigeria)
• 1995: George Weah (Liberia)
• 1996: Nwankwo Kanu (Nigeria)
• 1997: Victor Ikpeba (Nigeria)
• 1998: Mustapha Hadji (Morocco)
• 1999: Nwankwo Kanu (Nigeria)
• 2000: Patrick Mboma (Cameroon)
• 2001 and 2002: El Hadji Diouf (Senegal)
• 2003, 2004 and 2005: Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon)
• 2006: Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast)
• 2007: Frédéric Kanouté (Mali)
• 2008: Emmanuel Adebayor (Togo)
• 2009: Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast)
• 2010: Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon)
• 2011 to 2014: Yaya Touré (Ivory Coast), four in a row
• 2015: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon)
• 2016: Riyad Mahrez (Algeria)
• 2017 and 2018: Mohamed Salah (Egypt)
• 2019: Sadio Mané (Senegal)
• 2020 and 2021: not awarded
• 2022: Sadio Mané (Senegal)
• 2023: Victor Osimhen (Nigeria)
• 2024: Ademola Lookman (Nigeria)
• 2025: Achraf Hakimi (Morocco)

Nigeria’s record

Nigeria’s seven men’s winners came in two waves. The first was the generation of the 1990s: Yekini, Amunike, Kanu and Ikpeba won five of the six awards between 1993 and 1999 (George Weah took the other, in 1995). Kanu is still the only Nigerian man to win it twice.

After that came a long gap. John Mikel Obi finished second in 2013 and Vincent Enyeama third in 2014, but no Nigerian won again until Osimhen in 2023. His award followed a season in which he was Serie A’s top scorer and helped Napoli win the league. Lookman made it two in a row for Nigeria in 2024, the year he scored a hat-trick in Atalanta’s Europa League final win.

Patterns in the winners list

• Premier League clubs: Liverpool players have won four times (El Hadji Diouf in 2002, Salah twice and Mané in 2019), and Yaya Touré won all four of his awards at Manchester City.
• Back-to-back winners: Diouf, Eto’o, Touré and Salah all won in consecutive years. Osimhen and Lookman did it for Nigeria, though as two different players.
• Country count under CAF: Nigeria’s seven men’s awards are more than any other country has won since 1992. Ivory Coast have six and Cameroon five in that period.
• Close calls: Salah has finished second or third four times since his last win in 2018, most recently as runner-up in 2025.

The 2025 vote

CAF named Hakimi at its awards ceremony in Rabat on 19 November 2025. CAF says the vote combines the views of the head coaches and captains of its member associations, its technical study group and a media panel. Hakimi received 533 points, ahead of Salah on 317 and Osimhen on 240, according to the award’s published results. It was a big night for Morocco: Ghizlane Chebbak won the women’s award in the same ceremony.

Women’s African Footballer of the Year

CAF has given a women’s award since 2001, and Nigerians have dominated it:

• Asisat Oshoala: six wins (2014, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2022, 2023), the record.
• Perpetua Nkwocha: four wins (2004, 2005, 2010, 2011).
• Cynthia Uwak: two wins (2006, 2007).
• Mercy Akide: the first winner, in 2001.

Zambia’s Barbra Banda won in 2024, and Chebbak became the first Moroccan winner in 2025. Nigeria’s Chiamaka Nnadozie won the women’s goalkeeper award at the 2025 ceremony.

FAQ

Who is the current African Footballer of the Year?

Achraf Hakimi of Morocco, who won the 2025 award.

Which Nigerian has won the most African Footballer of the Year awards?

Among men, Nwankwo Kanu, with two (1996 and 1999). Among women, Asisat Oshoala, with six.

Who was the first Nigerian to win African Footballer of the Year?

Rashidi Yekini, in 1993.

Has a goalkeeper ever won the men’s award?

Not under CAF. Cameroon’s Thomas N’Kono won France Football’s version in 1979 and 1982.

What to watch

CAF’s 2026 awards will follow this year’s club season and the AFCON 2025 results. Expect Moroccan, Senegalese and Nigerian players to feature in the shortlists.

Related: Super Eagles all-time top scorers: Yekini, Osimhen and more; Nigerian players who won the Champions League; How Grammy voting works. More in our Nigerian Entertainment section.

Sources

• CAF: Achraf Hakimi and Ghizlane Chebbak lead Morocco’s golden night at CAF Awards 2025 (November 2025)
• BBC Sport: CAF Awards 2025, Hakimi named African Footballer of the Year (November 2025)
• Punch: CAF Awards, scorecard of Nigerian players since 1992
• Wikipedia: African Footballer of the Year, winners by year