It is a warm night in Rabat. November 19, 2025. The air is thick with anticipation as the Confederation of African Football (CAF) prepares to crown its king. For decades, this trophy has bounced between the hands of goal-hungry strikers and midfield maestros. But tonight feels different. When Achraf Hakimi stepped onto that stage to accept the African Footballer of the Year award for 2025, he wasn't just collecting a trophy; he was shattering a glass ceiling that had kept defenders in the shadows for over fifty years.
He is the first defender to win it since 1973. Think about that.
The last time a backline specialist took this home, Tshimen Bwanga was the name on everyone's lips. Since then, it’s been the George Weahs and Samuel Eto’os of the world. It’s kinda wild when you realize that even legend Kalusha Bwalya or the defensive rock Rigobert Song never quite touched this specific gold. Hakimi changed the narrative. He did it by winning basically everything—the UEFA Champions League, Ligue 1, and the Coupe de France with Paris Saint-Germain. He didn't just play; he dominated. He scored 11 goals as a right-back. That’s striker territory.
Why the African Footballer of the Year keeps changing the rules
If you think this award is just about who scored the most goals in Europe, you've got it wrong. Honestly, the voting process is a beast. It’s not just a few suits in a room. It’s a massive web of national team coaches, captains, and a specialized panel of journalists from across the continent.
They look at three things:
- Individual brilliance (stats, impact, "wow" factor).
- Team success (trophies, deep tournament runs).
- Social impact and character (fair play, leadership).
Take Ademola Lookman in 2024. He won it because he did the unthinkable: a hat-trick in a European final to destroy Bayer Leverkusen’s "invincible" streak. He beat out Hakimi that year. Then you have Victor Osimhen, who took the 2023 crown after ending Napoli’s 33-year wait for a league title. The award follows the heat. It follows the stories that make us scream at our TVs at 2 AM.
The Morocco Dominance of 2025
Morocco basically turned the 2025 ceremony into a private party. It wasn't just Hakimi. Ghizlane Chebbak took home the Women’s Player of the Year, becoming the first Moroccan woman to do so. Yassine Bounou grabbed the Goalkeeper of the Year award. Even the Young Player of the Year, Othmane Maamma, and the Under-20 National Team of the Year were Moroccan.
Is it a monopoly? Maybe. But you can't argue with a country that reached a World Cup semi-final and then won the U-20 World Cup in the same era. They’ve built a factory for talent.
The "European-Born" Debate
There's always this chatter. You've heard it. "He wasn't born in Africa, does he count?"
Hakimi was born in Madrid. Lookman was born in Wandsworth, London. Frédéric Kanouté, who won it in 2007, was born in France. Here is the reality: the African Footballer of the Year award doesn't care about your birth certificate; it cares about your heart and your FIFA eligibility. These players chose their heritage. They chose to represent the Atlas Lions or the Super Eagles when they could have easily waited for a call-up from Spain or England.
That choice matters. It resonates with fans from Lagos to Casablanca. When Hakimi drapes himself in the Moroccan flag after winning the Champions League, nobody is asking about his birthplace. They’re celebrating an African icon.
What Most People Miss About the History
The award has a messy past. Between 1970 and 1994, France Football (the Ballon d'Or people) gave out an African Player of the Year award. At the same time, CAF started its own in 1992. For a couple of years, we had two different "best" players. Abedi Pele won the France Football version three times, but the official CAF records start their tally with him in '92.
Samuel Eto’o and Yaya Touré sit at the top of the mountain with four wins each. Touré is the only guy to win four in a row. That kind of consistency is terrifying.
The Underdogs and the Snubs
- Mohamed Aboutrika: Arguably the greatest player to never win the main award. He dominated the "Inter-Club" category (for players based in Africa) but the big one always eluded him.
- Didier Drogba: He has the most top-three finishes in history (nine!). But he "only" won the trophy twice.
- The Goalkeeper Curse: Before Bounou's recent surge, keepers were almost invisible in the voting.
The Future: Who is Next?
We are entering a transition. The era of Salah and Mané is cooling down. Salah actually finished as a finalist again in 2025, which is insane considering he's 33, but the new guard is here.
Watch out for Victor Boniface. If he stays fit, his physical profile is exactly what CAF voters love. Then there's the young Othmane Maamma at Watford. Winning the Young Player of the Year is usually a precursor to the big one.
Actionable Next Steps for Fans:
- Track the AFCON 2026 Qualifiers: International performance carries more weight than club performance in the eyes of many African voters.
- Monitor the "Big Five" Leagues: To win, a player almost always needs to be a starter for a top-tier European club or lead an African club to a Champions League title (like Fiston Mayele did with Pyramids FC).
- Follow the CAF Awards Official Portal: Voting breakdowns are often released after the ceremony, showing exactly how many points separated the winner from the runner-up.
The African Footballer of the Year isn't just a sport's trophy. It's a barometer for the continent’s pride. Whether it's a defender from Madrid or a striker from Lagos, the winner carries the hopes of over a billion people. That’s a lot of weight for one piece of gold.