By Ashraf Hamed Atta
(Reuters) -Achraf Hakimi, Mohamed Salah and Victor Osimhen will contest Africa’s top individual football award after being named the three finalists for the CAF Player of the Year prize, the Confederation of African Football said on Sunday.
Hakimi, the Moroccan captain, crowned a historic season by winning the Champions League with Paris Saint-Germain for the first time in the club’s history, along with the French league and cup double, and the European Super Cup.
Egypt’s Mohamed Salah played a pivotal role in Liverpool’s Premier League title win last season, scoring 29 goals and providing 18 assists to claim both the Golden Boot and Playmaker awards. The 33-year-old also won the PFA Player of the Year and is bidding for his third CAF crown after triumphs in 2017 and 2018.
Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen fired Galatasaray to a league and cup double in Turkey, finishing as the league’s top scorer with 26 goals. Osimhen previously won the award in 2023, the same year Hakimi finished runner-up.
Last year’s winner Ademola Lookman, who edged Hakimi for the award, did not make the final shortlist.
The CAF Awards ceremony in Rabat on November 19 will also honour other categories, including Interclub Player of the Year, where Pyramids FC duo Fiston Mayele of DR Congo and Moroccan defender Mohamed Chibi join Oussama Lamliouli of RS Berkane.
For Best Goalkeeper, Moroccan pair Munir Mohamedi (RS Berkane) and Yassine Bounou (Al-Hilal) will compete against South Africa’s Ronwen Williams of Mamelodi Sundowns, who claimed both Best Goalkeeper and Best Interclub Player last year.
The Best Coach shortlist features Mohamed Ouhbi, who led Morocco to Under-20 World Cup glory, Morocco’s national team boss Walid Regragui, and Cape Verde’s Bubista, who guided his country to an unprecedented qualification for the 2026 World Cup.
(Reporting by Ashraf Hamed Atta; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
