Liverpool's Mohamed Salah named in African Team of the Year

The accolades just keep coming for Liverpool's Mohamed Salah. The Egyptian was named in the CAF FIFPRO Africa Men’s XI for 2023 at a glitzy ceremony held in Marrakech on Monday night.

In a celebration of the extraordinary talents and achievements of African football stars, it was the first time since 2016 that the top award was not won by a Liverpool player.

This time, it was Napoli and Nigeria's Victor Osimhen who was named African Men's Player of the Year.

Salah came third in the overall rankings, behind Paris Saint-Germain and Morocco's Achraf Hakimi.

An impressive streak

Osimhen's victory saw the end of an impressive streak for Liverpool players in Africa's equivalent of the Ballon d'Or.

Reds players won the award in four consecutive editions (the prize wasn't awarded during the Covid-19 pandemic) from 2017 to 2022.

Salah won the award in 2017 and 2018, followed by teammate Sadio Mané in 2019 and 2022, with the two long-time strike partners alternating between first and second place in each of those four final rankings.

Top African talent

For these awards, the winners across various categories were determined through a rigorous voting process involving the CAF Technical Committee, head coaches, national team captains and esteemed media professionals.

In the women's category, Asisat Oshoala, a stalwart for both Nigeria and Barcelona, secured her record sixth CAF African Player of the Year title.

Morocco coach Walid Regragui, meanwhile, earned recognition as CAF's Best Coach of the Year for guiding the Atlas Lions to a historic World Cup semi-final run in Qatar.

South Africa’s Desiree Ellis, securing her fourth consecutive award since 2018, was honoured as the Best Women's Coach for her outstanding work with Banyana Banyana.

The event also spotlighted rising stars, with Senegal's Lamine Camara claiming the CAF Young Player of the Year award and Moroccan prodigy Nesryne El Chad winning the inaugural CAF Women's Young Player of the Year.