Why Morocco captain Hakimi deserves CAF Men’s Player of the Year

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Football usually saves its grandest entrances for the men who finish chances. Achraf Hakimi keeps arriving from right-back and upsetting the plan.

There he is in the opposition penalty area. There he is supplying the decisive pass. And there he is again, on eve of the CAF Player of the Year awards, making a supposedly supporting position look like the leading role.

The prestigious awards ceremony will take place in Lagos, Nigeria, on December 2, 2026, bringing together Africa’s leading football personalities to celebrate outstanding achievements at club and international level.

Announced by the Confederation of African Football, Hakimi is joined on the ten-man shortlist by international teammates Brahim Diaz (Real Madrid) and Ismael Saibari (Bayern Munich), alongside other continental stars like Sadio Mané (Al Nassr) and Antoine Semenyo (Man City).

CAF awards graphic. (Courtesy)

Having won the 2025 CAF African Player of the Year award, Hakimi has made a compelling argument for keeping it. His candidacy for the 2026 crown is built on layers of convincing evidence: individual excellence, collective success, international stature and recognition from fellow players. It is an irresistible case, to put it kindly.

Hakimi has been consistent

Getting into football’s elite is one thing. Persuading everyone to keep your spot there is another.

Hakimi followed his remarkable sixth-place finish in the 2025 Ballon d’Or with 13th in 2026, the highest position occupied by an African international. Across those two editions, he has made sustained global recognition part of his professional routine.

Of course, sixth to 13th is a drop. But finishing among the world’s leading players in consecutive years remains significant, particularly for a defender competing for attention with football’s most prolific forwards.

That continuity is key to his CAF Africa Men’s Player of the Year Award campaign. Last year’s victory established a standard; this year’s performances have sustained it.

European royalty

For years, the UEFA Champions League was the conspicuous empty space in Paris Saint-Germain’s trophy cabinet. Then came 2025, and Hakimi helped kick the door open.

Paris Saint-Germain's Achraf Hakimi kisses the trophy after winning the UEFA Champions League. (Courtesy)

His opening goal in the 5–0 final victory over Inter placed him at the beginning of the most important scoreline in the club’s history. A right-back had arrived where a centre-forward would have wanted to be, with the composure the occasion demanded.

PSG then retained the trophy in 2026. The club that had waited decades to become European champions, immediately won a second. Hakimi again delivered the goods, finishing the campaign joint-top of PSG’s Champions League assist chart with six. 

Alongside that European triumph came another French Ligue 1 title, with the UEFA Super Cup also part of PSG’s 2025/26 collection. These were different examinations: the prolonged demands of a league campaign, the concentrated pressure of European knockout football, the expectation that follows a champion everywhere. Hakimi helped PSG answer them all.

Hakimi's gravity

Hakimi's attacking statistics this season are impressive; 49 appearances, four goals and 17 assists. Twenty-one direct goal contributions from a player whose job description still includes stopping the opposition.

Those figures easily show why Hakimi cannot be judged by the usual boundaries of his position. He gives his team width, penetration and an extra runner. His movement forces opponents to make uncomfortable choices: follow him and release space elsewhere, or leave him and risk discovering why that was unwise.

The assists are especially persuasive. Seventeen assists is a substantial return for an attacking player. For a full-back, it is proof that he is basically PSG’s attacking focal point.

Paris Saint-Germain FC's Achraf Hakimi lifts the trophy. (Courtesy)

Calling him the world’s best right-back is a judgment, rather than a statistic. But Hakimi's combination of production, tactical influence and success makes the claim unquestionable.

He has been Morocco’s talisman

Hakimi’s influence travels well, of course.

He helped Morocco reach the 2022 World Cup semi-finals, the first African nation to go that far, and was central to another deep campaign in 2026. In the last-16 victory over Canada, his pass created Azzedine Ounahi’s opening goal as the Atlas Lions advanced to the quarter-finals. Four years after their breakthrough, Morocco were again operating at the business end of the tournament.

France's Kylian Mbappé battles for possession with Morocco's Achraf Hakimi. (Courtesy)

With more than 100 international appearances, participation in three World Cups and Morocco’s World Cup appearance record, Hakimi's captaincy comes with excess authority and experience. It also boasts the honour of lifting the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations trophy, the country’s first in 29 years.

Keeping great company

The scale of Hakimi’s career becomes clearer when compared with legendary Samuel Eto’o's profile.

His Champions League titles with Real Madrid in 2018 and PSG in 2025 and 2026 bring him level with Eto’o’s three European crowns. He has also reached 19 Champions League assists, one short of the Cameroonian’s African record of 20. Again, Hakimi is a defender.

His domestic record is equally stunning: five league titles with PSG and the Serie A championship won with Inter make six senior top-flight league crowns across France and Italy. His Real Madrid honours include the Champions League and Spanish Super Cup. What does this history have to do with the 2026 African player of the year award? Simply, they show the pattern of Hakimi's success.

He is an all-round asset

Perhaps the most telling endorsement comes from inside the profession.

Hakimi is among the 26 finalists for the 2026 FIFPRO Men’s World 11, following voting by 19,806 professional footballers from 73 countries. He is the only finalist representing an African national team. That says it all.

Professional footballers know the work behind the highlights: the recovery sprint after an attack breaks down, the timing needed to support a winger without crowding him, the concentration required when legs become heavy. Their recognition carries the highest authority.

Hakimi already earned places in the 2025 FIFPRO World 11 and The Best FIFA Men’s 11. His latest nomination extends that recognition into another year. The respect has lasted.

This is why Hakimi easily deserves Africa’s top football award. The trophies support the performances. The performances support the rankings. The rankings are reinforced by the judgment of his peers.

Hakimi has spent another year expanding the definition of a right-back. Retaining the award seems like a no-brainer.

The crown already fits. He has given Africa every reason to leave it there. Case closed!