Achraf Hakimi and Ghizlane Chebbak led Morocco’s golden night at the CAF Awards 2025 in Rabat on Wednesday, claiming the CAF Men’s Player of the Year and CAF Women’s Player of the Year awards respectively.
Hakimi was nominated alongside Mohamed Salah, and Victor Osimhen. The PSG player succeeds Ademola Lookman, who won the 2024 CAF Men’s Player of the Year. On the women’s side, Ghizlane Chebbak follows in the footsteps of Asisat Oshoala (2023 winner) and Barbra Banda (the 2024 winner).
The star-studded ceremony, attended by players, coaches and legends from across the continent and beyond, marked a double triumph for the host nation on a night when Moroccan football’s remarkable ascent took centre stage.
Paris Saint-Germain right-back Hakimi was named CAF Men’s Player of the Year after a sensational 2025 in which he won the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, French Ligue 1, Coupe de France and reached the final of the FIFA Club World Cup 2025. His campaign also included scoring the opener in PSG’s 5–0 Champions League final victory over Inter Milan, underscoring his influence in a treble-winning year.
He also helped Morocco qualify for the FIFA World Cup 2026 and is the first defender to be named Africa’s best player since former TP Mazembe centre-back Bwanga Tshimen in 1973, and first Moroccan since Mustapha Hadji in 1998.
Hakimi, who missed out on the award in 2023 and 2024, accepted the prize on crutches after damaging ankle ligaments in a Champions League tie with Bayern Munich earlier this month. “It’s really an honour for me to win this prestigious trophy,” he said. “This trophy is not just for me – it is for all the Africans that have dreams.”
He added that winning the Africa Cup of Nations on home soil remains a top priority. “We will do our best to win the Afcon trophy,” he said, thanking medical staff and supporters helping him through “this difficult period.”
Hakimi, who faces a race to fitness before AFCON, has been at the forefront of Morocco’s campaign as the Atlas Lions aim for their first continental title since 1976.
Chebbak, captain of the Atlas Lionesses, capped a spectacular year by becoming Morocco’s first-ever winner of the CAF Women’s Player of the Year award. The 35-year-old midfielder was the leading scorer at the CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations 2024, where Morocco finished runners-up to Nigeria.
She moved from AS FAR to Saudi club Al-Hilal ahead of the 2025/26 season, becoming a teammate of six-time CAF Women’s Player of the Year Asisat Oshoala. “I am extremely delighted to receive this award,” Chebbak said. “This is the fruit of a lot of hard work over the years.”
She beat Nigeria captain Rasheedat Ajibade and Morocco teammate Sanaa Mssoudy to the prize despite Ajibade being named Player of the Tournament at WAFCON 2024. Her win completes a historic men’s–women’s sweep for Morocco, a first for the CAF Awards.
There was further Moroccan success on Wednesday night. Yassine Bounou claimed the CAF Men’s Goalkeeper of the Year award after a standout year that included being named in the Best XI at the FIFA Club World Cup 2025. Doha El Madani retained the CAF Women’s Young Player of the Year award after helping AS FAR to the Morocco Women’s Championship and finishing top scorer at the CAF Women’s Futsal Africa Cup of Nations 2025, where Morocco won the title.
Othmane Maamma won the CAF Men’s Young Player of the Year award after starring in Morocco’s thrilling triumph at the FIFA Under-20 World Cup 2025. “We built a team which was able to win the World Cup and it is a thing of immense pride for me,” the Watford midfielder said.
Morocco’s Under-20 team were named Men’s National Team of the Year after lifting the U20 World Cup, extending a dominant year across all levels of the country’s football. The run of victories underscores Morocco’s strong investment in youth development and elite performance systems, now widely seen as a continental benchmark.
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s Chiamaka Nnadozie retained the CAF Women’s Goalkeeper of the Year award for the third consecutive year after helping the Super Falcons win the CAF WAFCON Morocco 2024 title. Nigeria’s women’s national team were also named CAF Women’s National Team of the Year for the second straight year.
Cape Verde’s Bubista won CAF Men’s Coach of the Year after leading his country to a historic maiden FIFA World Cup qualification for 2026. “This is amazing,” he said. “We are a small country but we have a big heart.”
DR Congo striker Fiston Mayele was named CAF Men’s Interclub Player of the Year after finishing top scorer in the 2024/25 CAF Champions League and helping Pyramids SC lift the trophy for the first time. Pyramids were also named CAF Men’s Club of the Year.
Goal of the Year went to Tanzania’s Clement Mzize for his long-range stunner for Young Africans against TP Mazembe in the CAF Champions League—the only award decided by fan vote.
2025 CAF AWARDS WINNERS
Men’s Player of the Year: Achraf Hakimi (Morocco/PSG)
Women’s Player of the Year: Ghizlane Chebbak (Morocco/Al-Hilal)
Men’s Goalkeeper of the Year: Yassine Bounou (Morocco/Al-Hilal)
Women’s Goalkeeper of the Year: Chiamaka Nnadozie (Nigeria/Brighton)
Men’s Young Player of the Year: Othmane Maamma (Morocco/Watford)
Women’s Young Player of the Year: Doha El Madani (Morocco/AS FAR)
Men’s Interclub Player of the Year: Fiston Mayele (DR Congo/Pyramids)
Coach of the Year (Men): Bubista (Cape Verde)
National Team of the Year (Men): Morocco U20
National Team of the Year (Women): Nigeria
Men’s Club of the Year: Pyramids (Egypt)
