Lookman Primed to be Crowned Africa’s Best Player Tonight

Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja

Nigeria’s Ademola Lookman is all set to be crowned African Player of the Year this evening at the 2024 CAF Awards scheduled to hold at the Palais des Congrés in the Moroccan city of Marrakech.

Twenty-seven year-old Lookman who has carried his terrific form from last season into the 2024/2025 season, has notched 11 goals and five assists in 18 appearances in all competitions for Atalanta this season. His hat-trick in the Europa League final against Bayer Leverkusen remains the talking point amongst Atalanta fans whom he gave their first continental title in over 50 years!

For country, Lookman’s three goals and two assists were pivotal to the Super Eagles reaching their eighth Africa Cup of Nations Final in Cote d’Ivoire last February. He also scored two goals as Nigeria qualified for the 35th Africa Cup of Nations finals, with two other goals controversially chalked off!

None of the four other final nominees comes close to Lookman’s record for both club and country. Ivorian Simon Adingra, whose remarkable second-half performance saw the Elephants overcome Nigeria in the AFCON Final in Abidjan on 11 February, cannot point to such a glittering record with English Premier League club, Brighton.

Incidentally, Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire appear to always run neck-and-neck in continental titles. Both countries have three AFCON titles each, and have scooped the Men’s Player of the Year title six times since the awards were taken over by CAF in 1992.

Cameroon lead with 11 titles (including Samuel Eto’O’s quadruple) dating back to 1970 when France Football first organised the awards, while Ghana have five (including Abedi Pele’s treble).

Victory for Nigeria tonight will see the country become stand-alone number two, with previous winners being Rashidi Yekini (1993), Emmanuel Amuneke (1994), Nwankwo Kanu (1996 and 1999), Victor Ikpeba (1997) and Victor Osimhen (2023). It will also mean Lookman taking over from fellow Nigeria striker Osimhen. Cote d’Ivoire’s six have been won by Yaya Toure (quadruple) and Didier Drogba (double).

Guinea’s Serhou Guirassy, who notched a number of magnificent goals in the 2025 AFCON qualifying campaign, failed to steer Guinea to the AFCON finals, and has not pulled up too many trees with Borussia Dortmund in Germany this season.

South African goalkeeper Ronwen Williams has better chances in the goalkeeper of the year category, which he contests with Cameroon’s Andre Onana and Ivorian Yahia Fofana.

Moroccan defender Achraf Hakimi can hardly stake a claim.

In the women’s category, Nigeria’s Chiamaka Nnadozie is a worthy contender for the Player of the Year (won for the sixth time last year by compatriot Asisat Oshoala), and the gong will cap a remarkable year for the soft-spoken safe hands who helped Nigeria re-appear at the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament after 16 years, was key to the Falcons’ qualification for next year’s AFCON and drew rave reviews all around with French club, Paris FC. She is in competition with Moroccan Sanâa Mssoudy and Zambian Barbra Banda.

Nnadozie is also in contention to retain her Goalkeeper of the Year award, with Andile Dlamini (South Africa) and Khadija Er-Rmichi as contenders.

There is also Nigerian interest in Women’s Young Player of the Year category, with former junior international Chiamaka Okwuchukwu contending with Egyptian Habiba Sabry and Morocco’s Doha El Madani. Nigeria’s Asisat Oshoala won the first-ever title in this category, back in 2021.

Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria and South Africa (in the same order they finished on the podium at the AFCON) are in the race for the Men’s National Team of the Year, and Morocco, South Africa and Nigeria (who are the gong-holders and have finished the year as Africa’s number one on the FIFA ranking) battle for the women’s gong.

Nigeria’s Edo Queens are in the shortlist for Women’s Club of the Year, alongside TP Mazembe of DR Congo and South AS FAR of Morocco.

It will be interesting to see Lookman standing together with Nnadozie as winners of the Player of the Year awards in both categories (as we saw Nwankwo Kanu and Mercy Akide-Udoh in 1999, and Victor Osimhen and Asisat Oshoala in 2023.

AWARD CATEGORIES

*Men’s Player of the Year (Ademola Lookman)

*Women’s Player of the Year(Chiamaka Nnadozie)

Men’s Coach of the Year

Women’s Coach of the Year

Men’s Goalkeeper of the Year

*Women’s Goalkeeper of the Year(Chiamaka Nnadozie)

Men’s Interclub Player of the Year

Women’s Interclub Player of the Year

Men’s Young Player of the Year

*Women’s Young Player of the Year(Chiamaka Okwuchukwu)

*Men’s National Team of the Year(Super Eagles)