Brahim Díaz won the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations Golden Boot with five goals, in a tournament whose final on 18 January 2026 is still being fought over in court.
| At a glance | Answer |
|---|---|
| Latest winner | Brahim Díaz, Morocco, five goals (2025) |
| Previous winner | Emilio Nsue, Equatorial Guinea, five goals (2023) |
| Single-edition record | Ndaye Mulamba, Zaire, nine goals (1974) |
| Most career goals | Samuel Eto'o, Cameroon, 18 |
| Most winning editions | Egypt and Nigeria, eight each |
| Repeat winners | Pokou, Yekini, Eto'o, Odegbami, Milla and Mboma, twice each (shared awards counted) |
Who won the latest AFCON Golden Boot?
Díaz did, and outright.
Mohamed Salah of Egypt and Victor Osimhen of Nigeria finished one goal behind on four, according to Yen.com.gh. The Morocco forward missed a penalty in the final, which Senegal won 1 to 0 after extra time through Pape Gueye. In March 2026 the CAF Appeal Board ruled that Senegal had forfeited the match and awarded Morocco a 3 to 0 victory, and Senegal took the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. A hearing took place in Lausanne on 8 October and a ruling is expected at the end of November. No report we read ties that dispute to the Golden Boot.
Ties are the awkward part. We found no published CAF rule that separates players on equal goals.
AFCON Golden Boot winners by year
Rows were checked against RSSSF, Wikipedia and CAF.
| Year | Host | Player (country) | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1957 | Sudan | Ad-Diba (Egypt) | 5 |
| 1959 | United Arab Republic | Mahmoud El-Gohary (Egypt) | 3 |
| 1962 | Ethiopia | Mohamed Badawi (Egypt); Mengistu Worku (Ethiopia) | 3 |
| 1963 | Ghana | Hassan El-Shazly (Egypt) | 6 |
| 1965 | Tunisia | Ben Acheampong and Osei Kofi (Ghana); Eustache Manglé (Ivory Coast) | 3 |
| 1968 | Ethiopia | Laurent Pokou (Ivory Coast) | 6 |
| 1970 | Sudan | Laurent Pokou (Ivory Coast) | 8 |
| 1972 | Cameroon | Salif Keita (Mali) | 5 |
| 1974 | Egypt | Ndaye Mulamba (Zaire) | 9 |
| 1976 | Ethiopia | Mamadou Aliou Keita, also recorded as William Njo Lea (Guinea) | 4 |
| 1978 | Ghana | Opoku Afriyie (Ghana); Segun Odegbami (Nigeria); Phillip Omondi (Uganda) | 3 |
| 1980 | Nigeria | Segun Odegbami (Nigeria); Khalid Labied (Morocco) | 3 |
| 1982 | Libya | George Alhassan (Ghana) | 4 |
| 1984 | Ivory Coast | Taher Abouzaid (Egypt) | 4 |
| 1986 | Egypt | Roger Milla (Cameroon) | 4 |
| 1988 | Morocco | Lakhdar Belloumi (Algeria); Roger Milla (Cameroon); Gamal Abdelhamid (Egypt); Abdoulaye Traore (Ivory Coast) | 2 |
| 1990 | Algeria | Djamel Menad (Algeria) | 4 |
| 1992 | Senegal | Rashidi Yekini (Nigeria) | 4 |
| 1994 | Tunisia | Rashidi Yekini (Nigeria) | 5 |
| 1996 | South Africa | Kalusha Bwalya (Zambia) | 5 |
| 1998 | Burkina Faso | Hossam Hassan (Egypt); Benni McCarthy (South Africa) | 7 |
| 2000 | Ghana and Nigeria | Shaun Bartlett (South Africa) | 5 |
| 2002 | Mali | Patrick Mboma and Salomon Olembe (Cameroon); Julius Aghahowa (Nigeria) | 3 |
| 2004 | Tunisia | Patrick Mboma (Cameroon); Frederic Kanoute (Mali); Youssef Mokhtari (Morocco); Austin Okocha (Nigeria); Francileudo dos Santos (Tunisia) | 4 |
| 2006 | Egypt | Samuel Eto'o (Cameroon) | 5 |
| 2008 | Ghana | Samuel Eto'o (Cameroon) | 5 |
| 2010 | Angola | Mohamed Nagy (Egypt) | 5 |
| 2012 | Gabon and Equatorial Guinea | Manucho (Angola); Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast); Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon); Cheick Diabate (Mali); Houssine Kharja (Morocco); Chris Katongo and Emmanuel Mayuka (Zambia) | 3 |
| 2013 | South Africa | Emmanuel Emenike (Nigeria); Mubarak Wakaso (Ghana) | 4 |
| 2015 | Equatorial Guinea | Andre Ayew (Ghana); Javier Balboa (Equatorial Guinea); Dieumerci Mbokani (DR Congo); Thievy Bifouma (Congo); Ahmed Akaichi (Tunisia) | 3 |
| 2017 | Gabon | Junior Kabananga (DR Congo) | 3 |
| 2019 | Egypt | Odion Ighalo (Nigeria) | 5 |
| 2021 | Cameroon | Vincent Aboubakar (Cameroon) | 8 |
| 2023 | Ivory Coast | Emilio Nsue (Equatorial Guinea) | 5 |
| 2025 | Morocco | Brahim Díaz (Morocco) | 5 |
Where the sources disagree
Our old table had errors. Eto'o scored five in 2006, not four. In 1988 the four leaders had two goals each, not four. In 1980 Odegbami shared the award with Morocco's Khalid Labied.
The 1978 and 1962 rows are less settled. RSSSF and Wikipedia put Afriyie, Odegbami and Omondi level on three, while older lists, including ours, gave Omondi four. For 1962 Wikipedia has Mengistu Worku on three alongside Badawi, whereas RSSSF gives him two.
Mulamba's nine in 1974, Pokou's eight in 1970 and the sevens in 1998 hold up. Guinea's 1976 scorer appears under two names.
Some outlets name a single winner where RSSSF lists several: Santos for 2004, Mayuka for 2012 and Wakaso for 2013, with no basis we could find. Díaz's total is five in CAF's top-scorer list and on Wikipedia.
Nigeria's winners and the records
Six Nigerians have taken a share of the award across eight editions, and they are Segun Odegbami (1978 and 1980, three goals each time), Rashidi Yekini (four in 1992 and five in 1994), Julius Aghahowa (2002, three), Austin Okocha (2004, four), Emmanuel Emenike (2013, four) and Odion Ighalo (2019, five). Yekini's second came with the 1994 squad that won the continent.
Egypt and Nigeria each appear in eight editions. Cameroon has seven, Ghana and Ivory Coast five, Morocco four. That count is ours. It treats a shared award as one for every country involved. Drop the 1978 tie and Nigeria has seven.
Eto'o leads the career list with 18, according to CAF. Wikipedia's records page then has Pokou on 14, Yekini on 13 and Hassan El-Shazly on 12, with Mboma, Hossam Hassan, Drogba, Salah and Mané all sharing 11 goals.
The winning tally moves. Averaging the top total per edition gives 4.0 for the 1950s, 4.5 for the 1960s, 5.8 for the 1970s, 3.4 for the 1980s, 5.0 for the 1990s, 4.4 for the 2000s and 3.8 for the 2010s. The 2020s stand at 6.0. Three editions only.
Nsue's five in 2023 are covered on our 2023 top scorers page.
This article was most recently revised and updated 34 seconds ago
