AFCON 2025: Golden Boot race goes down to the wire
As the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), Morocco 2025 reaches its climax on Sunday, one individual prize has ignited excitement across the continent — the Golden Boot.
With 120 goals already scored ahead of the third-place playoff and the final, this edition has established itself as the most prolific since 2019.
Now entering the home stretch, the race for the tournament’s top scorer is set for a thrilling finish, with the outcome to be decided in the final two matches — the third-place playoff and the grand final.
Morocco’s poster boy Brahim Diaz leads the race, while Egypt’s talismanic skipper Mohammed Salah and Nigeria’s prolific striker Victor Osimhen lie in chase.
Diaz enters the final stretch as the man to catch. The Morocco star has scored five goals so far, finding the net in each of the Atlas Lions’ first five matches — across the group stage, the Round of 16 and the quarter-final.
Only blanked in one game
Only Nigeria managed to keep him quiet, holding Morocco to a goalless draw in the semi-final before the hosts advanced on penalties.
Consistent, decisive and influential, Diaz has been central to Morocco’s march to the final. His advantage gives him a clear edge, but with two matches still to be played, nothing is guaranteed.
Much of the Golden Boot’s fate may be decided 24 hours before the final, when Egypt and Nigeria meet in the third-place playoff at the Mohammed V Stadium in Casablanca on Saturday.
Osimhen and Salah both sit just one goal behind Diaz with four apiece. A goal from either could dramatically shift the balance, while a scoreless night would leave the door wide open for the Moroccan playmaker to seal the award in Sunday’s final.
Behind the leading trio, the pursuit remains tightly packed. Five players share third place on the scoring charts with three goals each: Nigeria’s Ademola Lookman, Côte d’Ivoire’s Amad Diallo, Algeria’s Riyad Mahrez, Morocco’s Ayoub El Kaabi and Mali’s Lassine Sinayoko.
Among them, Lookman and El Kaabi still have a final opportunity to mount a late surge. A multi-goal performance in their last outings could yet redraw the leaderboard and add another twist to an already gripping contest.
A race worthy of the stage
What this Golden Boot race reflects above all is balance. Margins are slim, momentum fragile, and every match capable of reshaping the narrative. For Diaz, it is a test of composure under the weight of expectation. For Osimhen and Salah, it is a final chance to turn pressure into reward. For the chasing pack, it is an invitation to dream.
When the final whistle sounds on Sunday night, one name will stand above the rest, etched into the history of Africa’s greatest football stage, joining a lineage of scorers who have defined eras and inspired generations across the continent.