The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has unveiled the list of 10 players nominated for the Men’s Player of the Year award. Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi, winner of the Champions League with PSG and ranked sixth in the Ballon d’Or, and Egypt’s Mohamed Salah, who had an exceptional 2024-25 season with Liverpool, are the two natural favourites to succeed Ademola Lookman, crowned last year.
Galatasaray and Borussia Dortmund strikers Victor Osimhen and Serhou Guirassy are also among the potential winners. DR Congo’s Fiston Mayele, who recently brought the CAF Super Cup to Pyramids, and Morocco’s Oussama Lamlioui, RS Berkane’s prolific striker, are considered outsiders.
Despite several notable absences, the Premier League is well represented
With three of its players featuring on the list of nominees, the Premier League stands out as the best-represented league. Yet this is despite the notable absences of Cameroon’s Bryan Mbeumo, DR Congo’s Yoane Wissa and Ghana’s Antoine Semenyo.
Omar Marmoush, who moved from Eintracht Frankfurt to Manchester City last winter, is also among the big names missing as is Rayan Aït-Nouri, who joined the Cityzens this summer from Wolverhampton.
The list of shortlisted players for the CAF Awards 2025 African Ballon d’Or
- 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)
