CAN 2025: The best players from each edition | OneFootball

The top players from each Africa Cup of Nations edition

William Troost-Ekong/NFL

Several players have left their mark in the history of the Africa Cup of Nations by winning the best player award.

Three players have achieved this remarkable feat twice: the Egyptian Ad-Diba (1957, 1959), Cameroonian legend Roger Milla (1986, 1988), and Egypt’s Ahmed Hassan (2006, 2010).

Here are the best players from each edition:

1957: Ad-Diba (Egypt)

1959: Ad-Diba (Egypt)

1962: Mengistu Worku (Ethiopia)

1963: Hassan Al Shazly (Egypt)

1965: Osei Kofi (Ghana)

1968: Mwamba Kazadi (DR Congo)

1970: Laurent Pokou (Ivory Coast)

1972: François M'Pelé (Congo)

1974: Mutumbula (Zaire)

1976: Ahmed Faras (Morocco)

1978: Karim Abdul Razak (Ghana)

1980: Christian Chukwu (Nigeria)

1982: Fawzi Al-Issawi (Libya)

1984: Théophile Abega (Cameroon)

1986: Roger Milla (Cameroon)

1988: Roger Milla (Cameroon)

1990: Rabah Madjer (Algeria)

1992: Abedi Pelé (Ghana)

1994: Rashidi Yekini (Nigeria)

1996: Kalusha Bwalya (Zambia)

1998: Benedict McCarthy (South Africa)

2000: Lauren (Cameroon)

2002: Rigobert Song (Cameroon)

2004: Jay-Jay Okocha (Nigeria)

2006: Ahmed Hassan (Egypt)

2008: Hosni Abd Rabo (Egypt)

2010: Ahmed Hassan (Egypt)

2012: Chris Katongo (Zambia)

2013: Jonathan Pitroipa (Burkina Faso)

2015: Christian Atsu (Ghana)

2017: Christian Bassogog (Cameroon)

2019: Ismaël Bennacer (Algeria)

2021: Sadio Mané (Senegal)

2023: William Troost-Ekong (Nigeria)