Nigeria forward Ademola Lookman, Zambia striker Barbra Banda and South Africa goalkeeper Ronwen Williams were the big winners at a star-studded 2024 CAF Awards in Marrakech, Morocco on Monday as Africa’s best performers for the year were honoured.

The glittering ceremony was attended by football royalty from the continent and beyond in a celebration of the incredible growth and development of the game in Africa, and the astonishing strides that have been made in men’s and women’s football in recent years.

Lookman was named CAF Men’s Player of the Year after a sensational 12 months with Italian side Atalanta and the Nigeria’s Super Eagles follows in the footsteps of compatriot Victor Osimhen, who claimed the award in 2023.

It is the first time Nigeria has had back-to-back winners in the Men’s award since Nwankwo Kanu (1996) and Victor Ikpeba (1997) were honoured almost three decades ago.

Banda took the 2024 National Women’s Soccer League season in the United States by storm as she helped Orlando Pride to the NWSL Shield and Championship, scoring the decisive goal in the final against Washington Spirit.

Her hat trick for Zambia at the Paris Olympics 2024 was her third in Olympic Games football, a record in the competition, elevating her to among the greats to have played the game.

Banda became the first player from Africa to be included in the FIFPRO Women’s World 11 in 2024.

Williamswas the only double winner on the night, collecting the Men’s Goalkeeper of the Year and Men’s Interclub Player of the Year awards.

His spectacular penalty saves at the Africa Cup of Nations Cote d’Ivoire 2023 will live long in the memory, including four in the quarter-final shootout win against Cape Verde as he captained South Africa to the bronze medal.

The 32-year-old helped his club Mamelodi Sundowns set a joint record low of just 11 goals conceded in 30 games in the South African Premiership as they eased to a seventh domestic league title in succession.

Nigeria’s Chiamaka Nnadozie claimed the Women’s Goalkeeper of the Year award for the second year in a row having had another outstanding season for French side Paris FC, where she was named Première Ligue Goalkeeper of the Season for 2023-24.

AS FAR and Morocco international forward Sanaâ Mssoudy won the Women’s Interclub Player of the Year having claimed the Best Player award at the 2024 CAF Women’s Champions League.

Lamine Camara of Senegal and Monaco was the Men’s Young Player of the Year as the versatile box-to-box midfielder shone for club and country with his dynamic displays.

Doha El Madani of AS FAR and Morocco won the Women’s Young Player of the Year as the 19-year-old secured the Golden Boot at the 2024 CAF Women’s Champions League with six goals in five matches.

The Men’s Coach of the Year went to Emerse Fae after he led Cote d’Ivoire from the brink of elimination to the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations title on home soil in one of the great global sports stories of 2024.   

Moroccan tactician Lamia Boumehdi was named Women’s Coach of the Year as she led TP Mazembe from the DR Congo to the 2024 CAF Women’s Champions League title with a win over AS FAR in the decider.

Cote d’Ivoire’s continental crown saw them named Men’s National Team of the Year, while Nigeria’s Super Falcons were the Women’s National Team of the Year. 

Al Ahly’s fourth CAF Champions League win in five years made them worthy winners of Men’s Club of the Year, while TP Mazembe took home the Women’s Club of the Year.

Goal of the Year was won by Angola’s Mabululu for his audacious finish against Namibia at the continental finals in Cote d’Ivoire. This was the only award voted for by fans.

In line with the commitment of CAF President Dr Patrice Motsepe at last year’s event, match officials were also honoured at the 2024 CAF Awards, Mutaz Ibrahim of Libya was named Men’s Referee of the Year, while Morocco’s Bouchra Karboubi was Women’s Referee of the Year.

Elvis Guy Noupue Nguegoue of Cameroon was awarded Men’s Assistant Referee of the Year and Zambia’s Diana Chikotesha the Women’s Assistant Referee of the Year.

The Men’s CAF-FIFPRO Africa Best XIfor Men and women were also named and honoured the top performers from the continent in each position.

2024 CAF AWARDS WINNERS

CAF PLAYER OF THE YEAR (MEN)
Ademola Lookman (Nigeria / Atalanta)

CAF PLAYER OF THE YEAR (WOMEN)
Barbra Banda (Zambia / Orlando Pride)

CAF GOALKEEPER OF THE YEAR (MEN)
Ronwen Williams (South Africa / Mamelodi Sundowns)

CAF GOALKEEPER OF THE YEAR (WOMEN)
Chiamaka Nnadozie (Nigeria / Paris FC)

CAF INTERCLUB PLAYER OF THE YEAR (MEN)
Ronwen Williams (South Africa / Mamelodi Sundowns)

CAF INTERCLUB PLAYER OF THE YEAR (WOMEN)   
Sanaâ Mssoudy (Morocco / AS FAR)

CAF YOUNG PLAYER OF THE YEAR (MEN)
Lamine Camara (Senegal / AS Monaco)

CAF YOUNG PLAYER OF THE YEAR (WOMEN)
Doha El Madani (Morocco / AS FAR)

CAF COACH OF THE YEAR (MEN)
Emerse Fae (Cote d’Ivoire)

CAF COACH OF THE YEAR (WOMEN)
Lamia Boumehdi (TP Mazembe)

CAF NATIONAL TEAM OF THE YEAR (MEN)
Cote d’Ivoire

CAF NATIONAL TEAM OF THE YEAR (WOMEN)  
Nigeria

CAF CLUB OF THE YEAR (MEN)
Al Ahly (Egypt)

CAF CLUB OF THE YEAR (WOMEN)
TP Mazembe (DR Congo)

CAF REFEREE OF THE YEAR (MEN)
Mutaz Ibrahim (Libya)

CAF REFEREE OF THE YEAR (WOMEN)
Bouchra Karboubi (Morocco)

CAF ASSISTANT REFEREE OF THE YEAR (MEN)
Elvis Guy Noupue Nguegoue (Cameroon)

CAF ASSISTANT REFEREE OF THE YEAR (WOMEN)
Diana Chikotesha (Zambia)

CAF GOAL OF THE YEAR
Mabululu (Angola)

Say it loud! Ademola Lookman is the African Footballer of the Year! The Atalanta and Nigeria forward even added a touch of culture with his Yoruba flowing gown in Nigeria’s colour of forest green.

Not done yet, the player born in the UK and grew up in the country opened his remarks in his father’s tongue of Yoruba as he saluted the global audience.

He became the seventh Nigerian to win the African Prime Continental award after Rashidi Yekini in 1993, Emmanuel Amuneke in 1994, Nwankwo Kanu in 1996 and 1999, Victor Ikpeba in 1997 and Victor Osimhen in 2023.

Lookman has been in the form of his life in 2024, helping turn his Italian Serie A side Atalanta into title contenders and taking them to a UEFA Europa League trophy win, the first major piece of silverware for the club in 61 years.

The 27-year-old scored a hat-trick in the decider as Atalanta became the only team in the 2023-24 campaign to inflict a defeat on German Bundesliga outfit Bayer Leverkusen as the forward provided one of the great final displays in European football history.

Lookman also helped Nigeria to the final of the Africa Cup of Nations Cote d’Ivoire 2023, where they lost to the hosts. His displays, and three goals, did not go unnoticed as he was named in the Team of the Tournament.   

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Zambia’s Barbara Banda is the successor to Asisat Oshoala as the best woman footballer of the year. Banda plays for Orlando Pride of the United States. The year 2024 has been synonymous with memorable exploits for Zambia’s Copper Queens.
During the Paris Olympic Games, Banda, 24, made history by becoming the first player to score a third hat-trick at the Olympics after her two brilliant previous performances in Japan three years earlier.
After four successful years at Shanghai Shengli in China, she made a fresh start by joining Orlando Pride in the United States, becoming the second most expensive player in women’s football history. 
In her first season in the National Women’s Soccer League, the Zambian captain caused a sensation by scoring the decisive goal in the final of the playoffs, one of 17 she managed in 25 games.
This earned her the title of the championship’s Most Valuable Player of 2024, thus confirming her status as an exceptional player