1998! We had to go back to 1998 to see a Moroccan win the African Ballon d’Or, the highest individual distinction on the continent. At that time, it was Mustapha Hadji, author of a memorable World Cup with the Atlas Lions, who won this trophy. 27 years later, it was Achraf Hakimi who obtained this award in a fairly logical way. The PSG right-back undoubtedly had one of the best seasons in history for a defender by winning all the trophies with PSG.
Winner of the Champions League, Ligue 1, the Coupe de France and the Champions Trophy, the Moroccan made his mark by being quite impressively consistent. Above all, the former defender trained at Real Madrid displayed incredible statistics for a right-back by being decisive in all the notable moments of the Parisian season. Scorer in the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final of the Champions League, Hakimi finished the season with 11 goals and 17 assists in 55 matches.
A logical trophy
Impressive figures which even made him a more than credible candidate for the France Football Ballon d’Or. Often in discussions with Ousmane Dembélé and Lamine Yamal, Achraf Hakimi, who had publicly displayed his ambition to win this trophy, finally finished 6th. A position which may have surprised followers of European football, even if the person concerned was rather happy after the results. No matter, he quickly turned towards the other objective: the African Ballon d’Or which he had narrowly missed last season, beaten by Ademola Lookman.
“The African Ballon d’Or? I don’t think about it constantly but now that I have a chance to win it, it’s become a dream! “, said Achraf Hakimi before continuing. “I have worked a lot to be able to win titles, collective and individual, and now that I am one of the players preselected to win them”explained Hakimi on PSG TV a few weeks ago. Still a finalist this season with Mohamed Salah (main competitor since the Egyptian finished ahead of him in the Ballon d’Or in 4th place) and Victor Osimhen, Achraf Hakimi finally gleaned this trophy he coveted so much. In front of his audience, in Rabat, the Moroccan, still injured in his ankle, lifted this individual trophy with pride while undoubtedly waiting to do the same in a month with a collective trophy this time: the CAN. But he puts his name alongside legends of African football like Mané, Salah, Aubameyang, Drogba, Eto’o, Yaya Touré and George Weah.
The African Ballon d’Or winners:
- 2025: Achraf Hakimi (Morocco/PSG)
- 2024: Ademola Lookman (Nigeria / Atalanta Bergamo)
- 2023: Victor Osimhen (Nigeria / SSC Napoli)
- 2022: Sadio Mané (Senegal / Liverpool & Bayern Munich)
- 2019: Sadio Mané (Senegal / Liverpool)
- 2018: Mohamed Salah (Egypt / Liverpool)
- 2017: Mohamed Salah (Egypt / Liverpool)
- 2016: Riyad Mahrez (Algeria / Leicester City)
- 2015: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon / Borussia Dortmund)
- 2014: Yaya Touré (Ivory Coast / Manchester City)
- 2013: Yaya Touré (Ivory Coast / Manchester City)
- 2012: Yaya Touré (Ivory Coast / Manchester City)
- 2011: Yaya Touré (Ivory Coast / Manchester City)
- 2010: Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon / Inter Milan)
- 2009: Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast / Chelsea)
- 2008: Emmanuel Adebayor (Togo / Arsenal)
- 2007: Frédéric Kanouté (Mali / Sevilla FC)
- 2006: Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast / Chelsea)
- 2005: Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon / FC Barcelona)
- 2004: Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon / FC Barcelona)
- 2003: Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon / Real Mallorca)
- 2002: El-Hadji Diouf (Senegal / Liverpool)
- 2001: El-Hadji Diouf (Senegal / RC Lens)
- 2000: Patrick Mboma (Cameroon / Parma)
- 1999: Nwankwo Kanu (Nigeria / Arsenal)
- 1998: Mustapha Hadji (Morocco / Deportivo La Coruna)
- 1997: Victor Ikpeba (Nigeria / AS Monaco)
- 1996: Nwankwo Kanu (Nigeria / Inter Milan)
- 1995: George Weah (Liberia / AC Milan)
- 1994: Emmanuel Amunike (Nigeria / Sporting CP)
- 1993: Rashidi Yekini (Nigeria / Vitória Setúbal)
- 1992: Abedi Pelé (Ghana / Olympique de Marseille)
