The 2025 African Cup of Nations, AFCON, has met expectations, with many countries showing strong and impressive play so far.
Meanwhile, it was much easier to celebrate wins during the group stage, which saw 87 goals scored.
As the tournament moved on to the round of 16, the teams competing became more focused and made fewer mistakes.
Because of that, just 22 goals were scored in total.
Now there are eight teams still competing for the trophy. In the last stages of games, a number of players showed fantastic displays that helped their country get into the quarterfinals.
Sportskeeda has listed the top five players who performed best in the AFCON 2025 round of 16 with Nigeria’s Ademola Lookman as the top player of the tournament so far.
Real Madrid’s Brahim Diaz is in fifth place, Egypt’s Yasser Ibrahim is fourth, Manchester United’s Amad Diallo from Ivory Coast is third, Senegal’s Papa Gueye is second, and Lookman is considered the best overall.
Diaz has always helped Morocco get out of tough spots. The Real Madrid player scored the only goal of the match, which ended Tanzania’s chances in the AFCON 2025.
Diaz has scored in every game he has played in the tournament and is now the top goal scorer in AFCON 2025.
For Egyptian player, Ibrahim, he stood out as a key performer in the African Cup of Nations during the round of 16.
The defender played well in defense as Egypt won 3-1 against Benin Republic in extra time. He then scored the goal that gave Egypt the lead in their match against Benin, winning the game in the 97th minute.
Ivory Coast’s Amad Diallo helped his country win 3-0 against Burkina Faso by scoring the first goal and setting up the second one. A performance that has positioned him to be the tournament’s leading goal scorer, with three goals already scored.
Papa Gueye from Senegal scored two goals to help his team come back after a tough start, leading Senegal to a 3-1 victory over Sudan in the round of 16.
Ademola Lookman from Nigeria was probably the top player in the recently finished round of matches.
The winger controlled the game in attack by scoring Nigeria’s first goal against Mozambique in the 20th minute.
He also made two more assists, one in the 47th minute and another in the 75th minute. A performance that has made him the top player in AFCON 2025 with the most assists, totaling four.