CHAN: Players with 5 or more goals in a single edition

By Peter Ochieng

Preparations are in top gear in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, ahead of the 8th edition of the African Nations Champions (CHAN) tournament.

The competition to be staged in three countries for the first time in its 16-year history will run from February 01, to February 28, 2025.

CHAN is a Confederations of African Football (CAF) tailor made tournament for players plying their trades in their national leagues.

Senegal are the defending champions, with DRC and Morocco being the most successful teams, having won two titles apiece.

Since 2009, the tournament has produced some top-notch goal poachers, with the record goal return for a player in a single edition being 9 goals.

We take a look at some of the top goal scorers:

1. Ayoub El Kaabi (9 goals)

Long before the Moroccan was signed by Greece Super League side Olympiacos in 2023, he was on the books of RS Berkane in Morocco, between 2017 and 2018.

In 2018, Morocco hosted CHAN’s 5th edition where El Kaabi scored 9 goals to not only emerge the top scorer, but lead his team to the first title.  

He scored 5 goals in the group stage – 2 against Mauritania and 3 against Guinea as Morocco won 4-0 and 3-1 respectively.  

He then scored both goals as his team defeated Namibia 2-0 in the quarterfinal, before scoring two more as Morocco beat Libya 3-1 in the semis.

El Kaabi then scored a goal as Morocco thrashed Nigeria 4-0 in the final.

2. Aymen Mahious (5 goals)

There is a saying that goes, “It is always lonely at the top.”

CHAN top scorers’ charts truly indicate that it is lonely at the top for El Kaabi, as his competitors only managed 5 goals in a single championship.

In 2022, while playing for Algerian side, USM Alger, the striker scored 5 goals during the 7th CHAN edition hosted by Algeria.

He scored both goals as the Desert Foxes defeated Namibia and Ethiopia with an identical 1-0 during the group stage.

Mahious scored again as Algeria beat Ivory Coast 1-0 in the quarters, before scoring twice in his team’s 5-0 thrashing of Niger in the semis.

Unlike El Kaabi before him, his goals were not able to propel Algeria to victory as Senegal were crowned champions, after beating Algeria 5-4 via post-match penalties, owing to a 0-0 stalemate in the final.  

3. Soufiane Rahimi, Given Singuluma (5 goals)

The five-goal return was also managed by Moroccan Soufiane Rahimi in 2020 and Zambia’s Given Singuluma in 2009.

Rahimi’s goals delivered Morocco's second CHAN title in 2020, while Given’s strike’s earned Zambia a third-place finish in 2009.