The Confederation of African Football (CAF) which is an administrative and controlling body for the association of African Football on November 1st, 2023 announced 30 players who cut the CAF’s African Player of the Year.
The list was further trimmed down after initial screening to 10 players that will be subject to final voting. This will lead to the pronouncement of the best player in Africa. This 2023 award ceremony is scheduled to take place on December 1st in Marrakech, Morocco.
The 2023 African Best Player is the 29th edition of the award. The winner will be awarded based on who has the highest number of votes by a panel of experts, including journalists, coaches, and technical directors. The criteria for the award will be on their respective stats of the 2022/23 club and international career.
Not surprising to many football fans based on recent performance, especially at the last FIFA World Cup, Moroccan led the list with a total of 4 nominees. Cameroon who also had an impressive outing at the World Cup had 2 nominees while Algeria, Egypt, Nigeria, and Senegal all have one nominee each.
The race will continue between Sadio Mane and Mo Sallah who both made the list in 2022 that saw Sadio being crowned the footballer in Africa.
Here are the top 10 nominees (in no order) and their notable achievements in the 2022/23 football world.
Riyad Mahrez( Algeria): An Algerian professional player aged 32. He plays as a right winger for Saudi pro-league club Al-Ahli and the Algerian national team as their captain. On 15 July 2022, Mahrez signed a 2-year contract with Manchester City prior to moving to the Saudi league that has attracted many superstars including Christiano Ronald, Sadio Mane, and so many others.
He won the treble with Manchester City which includes the English FA Cup, the Premier League, and UEFA Champions League making him the 5th African player to achieve this feat. On June 1st Man City won the Champions League making him the second Algerian ever to win the competition.
On 19 July 2023, Mahrez joined the Saudi Pro League club Al-Ahli. Mahrez captained Algeria at the African Cup of Nations, held in January 2022.
Andre Anguissa (Cameroon): Andre Anguissa is a central midfielder from Cameroon aged 28. On 26 May 2022, Napoli purchased Anguissa from Fulham. Where he scored his first-ever Champions League goal against Liverpool.
At the end of the season, Anguissa and Napoli won the Serie A title for the first time in 33 years. At the end of the 2022 calendar year, Zambo Anguissa will be called up by new national team manager Rigoberto Song to Cameroon’s squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
He played in all three group-stage matches as his side failed to progress to the second round.
Vincent Aboubacar (Cameroon): Vincent plays as a striker for Super Lig club Besiktas in Turkey and also captains the Cameroon national team. Prior to joining his new club, he was playing for Al-Nassr in the Saudi Arabian pro league alongside Christiano Ronaldo.
In the 2022 FIFA World Cup, he scored a goal and provided an assist in a 3–3 draw against Serbia. His goal was described as an “outrageous scoop” by BBC Sport. He scored the winning goal against Brazil in the third match.
Aboubacar is currently the third-highest scorer in the history of the Cameroonian national team, behind the legendary two forwards, Roger Milla who holds 43 goals for Cameroon, and Samuel Eto’O with 56 goals.
Mohammad Salah (Egypt): He is popularly known as Mo Salah he plays as a right winger for Liverpool and Egypt’s national team as their captain. He is known for his clinical finishing, dribbling, and speed. Salah was the second-highest goalscorer in the 2022-23 UEFA Champions League.
He is also the second-highest goal scorer for Egypt. On 24 March 2023, Salah scored his 50th international goal for Egypt. Egypt was the only African team with more than one player who had scored at least 50 international goals at the top level.
Achraf Hakimi (Morocco): Hakimi is a professional Moroccan player aged 25 years. He plays as a right-back or right-winger for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain and the Morocco national team. Hakimi signed for PSG on 6 July 2021, In his first season at PSG, he won a Ligue 1 title, his second league title in a row.
On 14 February 2023, Hakimi was nominated for the 2022 FIFA FIFPRO World 11. On 10 November 2022, Hakimi was named in Morocco’s 26-man squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
He refused to play for Spain owing allegiance to his country Morocco He scored the winning penalty in a shoot-out against Spain in the round of 16, securing a place for his country in the quarter-finals.
Sofyan Amrabat (Morocco): Amtabat plays as a defensive midfielder for Manchester United and the Morrocan national team. On 10 November 2022, Amrabat was named in Morocco’s 26-man squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
As Morocco came 4th place in the tournament, his strong performances led to an increase in interest in his services across Europe.
Yassine Bonou (Morocco): Bonou is a Moroccan goalkeeper who plays for Al-Hilal and the Moroccan national team. Bounou was nominated for Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper in 2022 along with Emiliano Martinez and Thibaut Courtois, in which he eventually finished in second place.
On 31 May 2023, Bounou was named Player of the Match in the Europa League final against Roma, where he managed to save two penalties. He is nominated for both African Player of the Year and African Goalkeeper of the Year by CAF.
Bonou is the only goalkeeper nominated in the list of top 10 players. He is also one of the 3 players currently playing in the Saudi Pro League alongside Mahrez and Mane.
Youssef En-Nesyri (Morocco): En-Nesyri plays as a striker for tha La Liga club Sevilla and the Moroccan National Team. He is known for his aerial game and heading ability.
With 9 goals, Nesyri retains the record as the Moroccan with the highest number of goals in the history of the UEFA Champions League. He surpasses Marouane Chamakh, who had scored 8 goals. On 10 November 2022, he was named in Morocco’s 23-man squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
On 10 December, in their quarter-final match against Portugal. En-Nesyri jumped 2.78 meters to score the lone goal to put Morocco through to the semi-finals, this made Morocco the first African-Arab team to qualify for the World Cup Semi-final.
Victor Osimhen (Nigeria): Osimhen is a professional Nigerian player who plays as a striker for Serie A club Napoli and the Nigerian team. He is considered one of the best strikers in the world known for his strength and athleticism.
On 17 February 2023, he scored his 100th career goal. On 4 May 2023 Victor, scored the equalizer in a 1-1 draw that sealed the Series A title for Napoli for the first time in 33 years. Osimhen started the qualification for the 2023 AFCON qualifiers helping Nigeria win both of their first two matches.
He finished the 2023 AFCON qualifiers as top scorer with 10 goals. Osimhen became the first-ever Nigerian player to make the top ten Balon d’or which was won by Lionel Messi.
Sadio Mane (Senegal): Mane is a Senegalese professional player who plays as a forward for the Saudi Pro League club Al-Nassr and the Senegal national team. He is considered one of the best players in the world. On 22 June 2022.
Mane joined the Bundesliga club and scored his debut goal to help Bayern to a 5-3 victory. On 1 August 2023, Saudi Pro League club Al Nassr announced the signing of Mane.
At the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, Mané starred for Senegal as they won the competition for the first time. In the final against Egypt. He is Senegal’s all-time top scorer with 32 goals, surpassing Henri Camara. He is also the previous Winner of the CAF’s African Player of the Year 2022.
Well here is the list as we look forward to December 1st to see who will be crowned the CAF Footballer of the year 2023. We will watch as the drama unfolds. Would Sadio Mane retain his title, or Mo Sallah may crash the party?
Don’t forget Mahrez who won the treble for Manchester City and Victor Osimhen who was nominated for Balon d’or alongside Lionel Messi and other top guns.
