Brahim Díaz - from supporting act to AFCON 2025 main character

Brahim Díaz arrived at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations as a supporting act, but Morocco's Real Madrid forward is now very much the main character.

As the tournament hosts prepare to face Nigeria in the semi-final of Africa's premier football competition, the Atlas Lions are being carried by a player who has turned this AFCON into his own stage.

“He can be the best player in the world,” head coach Walid Regragui said after the quarter-final against Cameroon, where he scored the first in Morocco's 2-0 victory that night.

That statement, bold at first, now feels more like a measured assessment when the 26-year old's impact at the competition in put into perspective.

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Brahim Díaz shines the brightest among the stars

The AFCON 2025 semi-final line-up already reads like a roll call of African football’s elite.

Nigeria arrive with Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman, winners of the past two African Footballer of the Year awards, while Achraf Hakimi, Africa’s reigning best player, anchors Morocco.

In the other semi-final, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mané renew their rivalry for Egypt and Senegal. Rarely has an AFCON last four felt so stacked or so balanced.

And despite the parade of star players on show, Díaz has emerged as the tournament’s defining figure. The former Manchester City forward has scored in five consecutive AFCON matches, a first in the competition’s history since Ghana's Osei Kofi in 1968.

Five goals from 15 shots, delivered with calm and precision, have made him the leading scorer and the player opponents now plan around.

Brahim Díaz contributes more than just goals

For Morocco, his impact goes beyond numbers. Díaz has scored opening goals, broken deadlocks and shifted momentum when the hosts have looked tense.

He struck against Comoros to settle opening-night nerves, converted a penalty against Mali, scored again as Morocco swept aside Zambia, found the winner against Tanzania in the Round of 16, and opened the scoring against Cameroon in the quarter-finals. Each time, he has been the release valve.

This is Díaz’s first major international tournament after switching nationality from Spain to Morocco in July 2023, yet he plays it like someone who has been waiting for this responsibility.

At club level, his role has often been secondary. At Real Madrid, opportunities have been limited and confidence difficult to build. In a side filled with attacking superstars, Díaz has too often played a bit-part role.

With Morocco, he is essential. Regragui has trusted him, built around him, and asked more of him without the ball. Díaz has responded by pressing, tracking back, competing in duels and setting a tone that matches Morocco’s intensity.

“He’s not only scoring,” Regragui said. “He’s running, fighting, sending a message to the team.”

Brahim Díaz's audition for Africa's best player award

The Nigeria semi-final may be the sternest test yet. Osimhen’s power, Lookman’s movement and Nigeria’s physical edge will force Morocco to be sharper, more patient, more ruthless. Regragui has already warned his players that there will be no room to relax.

For Díaz, it is also an opportunity. With Hakimi already crowned Africa’s best, and Osimhen and Lookman carrying recent honours, this match feels like an audition of sorts. Not a declaration, perhaps, but a reminder that he now belongs in that conversation.

AFCON has often been about moments. Today (14 January), Morocco are hoping theirs comes again, and they take another step towards a first title since 1976. And when it does, Diaz would hope he is at the centre of it, as he has been all tournament.

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