Hakimi, Osimhen, Salah shortlisted for top African award
Soccer Football - FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 - Round of 16 - Morocco v Spain - Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan, Qatar - December 6, 2022 Morocco's Achraf Hakimi celebrates with teammates after scoring the winning penalty during the penalty shootout as Morocco progress to the quarter finals REUTERS/Matthew Childs
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Moroccan Achraf Hakimi, Nigerian Victor Osimhen and Egyptian Mohamed Salah were shortlisted on Sunday for the 2025 African men's player of the year award, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced.
Moroccans
Ghizlane Chebbak and Sanaa Mssoudy and Nigerian Rasheedat Ajibade are the
contenders for the African women's player of the year title.
Currently
injured, full-back Hakimi helped Paris Saint-Germain win the UEFA Champions
League for the first time and finish runners-up to Chelsea in the final of the
expanded Club World Cup.
If fit,
the 27-year-old will lead hosts Morocco in the Africa Cup of Nations from
December 21 as they seek to win the competition for the first time since 1976.
Twice
winner of the African award, Salah has been struggling lately after an
outstanding contribution to Liverpool winning the Premier League a record-equalling
20th time last season.
The
33-year-old won the 2024-25 Premier League Golden Boot award with 29 goals, six
more than Alexander Isak, who has since moved from Newcastle United to
Liverpool.
Osimhen,
from top Turkish outfit Galatasaray, has been outstanding recently for club and
country, but some of his achievements will not count as the deadline for the
judges was October 15.
That
rules out a Champions League hat-trick against Ajax in Amsterdam and two goals
in a 2026 World Cup play-off victory over Gabon last Thursday.
Paris
Saint-Germain star Ajibade was voted the best player at the Africa women's Cup
of Nations this year after Nigeria came from two goals behind to defeat hosts
Morocco 3-2 in the final.
Saudi
Arabia-based Chebbak, the daughter of former Moroccan men's star Larbi Chebbak,
was the leading scorer in the competition with five goals.
Another
Moroccan forward, Mssoudy has helped make Rabat club FAR one of the strongest
in Africa. They won the CAF women's Champion League three years ago and reached
the 2025 semi-finals this weekend.
The
annual African men's and women's awards ceremony will be staged in Moroccan
capital Rabat on Wednesday.
CAF
technical and development committee members, coaches, former stars and selected
media representatives selected the nominees.
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