In almost two decades of recorded football, only six players have registered five goal contributions in a single Ligue 1 match: Neymar, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Kylian Mbappé, Memphis Depay, Carlos Eduardo and Edinson Cavani.

This past Friday, Achraf Hakimi became the seventh -- and the only defender -- to achieve the feat. The Morocco captain scored a hat-trick and registered two assists as Paris Saint-Germain came back from a goal down to demolish Le Havre 5-1.

It was an extraordinary performance from the Morocco defender -- setting new standards in a career full of magnificent displays -- although his head coach Luis Enrique even questioned whether Hakimi should still be considered a defender at all.

"He's clearly a striker when we have the ball," the 56-year-old manager told journalists after the match, "and when we don't have it, everyone's a defender. He's the best right back in the world."

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Almost a year ago, he became the first defender in more than half a century - since Tshimen Bwanga in 1973 - to be crowned CAF's African Footballer of the Year, and his latest performance represents another compelling argument for him to win the award once again.

With the next CAF awards approaching, in Lagos on December 7, Hakimi is again looking like the outstanding candidate, with no one else from the continent posting the kind of performances that the Moroccan has, while also competing for honours at the pinnacle of the world's game.

Certainly, his mesmerising showing at the Stade Oceane will take some beating, even if Ligue 1 strugglers Le Havre were hardly stern opponents.

PSG, who are picking up form after a sluggish start to the season, threatened to suffer an embarrassing upset -- for half an hour, at least -- after Nigeria's Josh Maja put the hosts ahead at the back post after 18 minutes.

However, eight minutes later, Hakimi began to take control of proceedings, as he released Mike Godts with an improvised touch forward after immaculate control for the Belgium winger to equalise.

The Moroccan, by now operating as PSG's most advanced player, then ran onto Senny Mayulu's pass to fire PSG into the lead two minutes later as the hosts unravelled.

For his second goal, soon after the break, he showcased his prowess from set pieces, curling a delicious right-footed freekick beyond Arnaud Bodard, and then returned the favour to Mayulu in the 62nd minute when he fed the Franco-Congolese wonderkid to round the keeper on the counterattack.

A deflected effort in the 69th minute completed Hakimi's hat-trick, before the PSG skipper was withdrawn -- to a standing ovation from PSG fans, and begrudging admiration from the remaining Le Havre supporters who hadn't abandoned their team -- two minutes later.

While Hakimi's output has been magnificent in the French capital, he had never before managed more than two goal involvements in a single Ligue 1 game across his previous 135 appearances, since arriving from Internazionale in 2021.

After his Le Havre masterclass, he's already leapfrogged the rest of his teammates to become their joint leading contributor for direct goal involvements in the league so far this term (tied with Ferran Torres).

"I'm not particularly excited to see him score three goals," Enrique continued. "What I like is seeing him constantly at the highest level, always ready. It means a lot for our team."

Since the early days of his career, Hakimi had all the qualities to be a dangerous and elite attacking fullback, but Enrique hasn't just used them as a complement to his primary tactical strategy, he's made the Moroccan a central component of the team's offensive identity.

The Moroccan's movements inside have given PSG an unpredictable threat which have ensured that Hakimi is a difference-maker, while he still excels when playing as a more orthodox 'out-and-out' attacking fullback, as he demonstrated with his first assist of the season, for Fabián Ruiz against Barcelona, having attacked the outside.

While other talented defenders could step in and replace Hakimi, ensuring PSG keep their organisation and rigour, there's no other fullback in the world who could replace him offensively, and immediately match his role in PSG's attacking strategy.

Hakimi has become the benchmark for the modern interpretation of the fullback, having surely surpassed Trent Alexander-Arnold in recent years.

Under Enrique, he's changing the face of African players at the absolute top end of the European game, with the continent's attackers typically dominating at the major clubs and when it comes to dishing out the biggest awards in the sport.

While Africa has produced decorated defenders in the half-century since Bwanga's triumph, few have seriously challenged for the continent's highest individual honour.

The likes of Kolo Toure, Rigobert Song, Essam El-Hadary or Ahmed Fathy never made the podium at the CAF awards, and you have to go back to Samuel Kuffour at the turn of the century, and before him, Taribo West, to find an African defender actually in the hunt for the CAF FOTY prize.

But Hakimi is not merely a contender, he's already the favourite to win the top award again, and performances like Friday's make it harder to see who else will get a look-in.

In 2025, he was rewarded for the defining role he played in PSG's historic maiden Champions League triumph -- he scored in their 5-0 final victory over Internazionale -- as well as his contributions across their domestic double.

One year on, he can look back on further success with Enrique's side -- both domestically and in the UCL -- as well as more pioneering showings with Morocco, even if he struggled for fitness during the Africa Cup of Nations on home soil.

He finished 13th in the 2026 Ballon d'Or votes -- 16 places ahead of the next best African contender, Sadio Mané -- and winning another CAF award would elevate him into a select group of players who have won the prize in consecutive years.

Is it really feasible that an Antoine Semenyo, or Yan Diomande, or Victor Osimhen has done enough over the year to wrest the honour away from Hakimi?

Of course, a hat-trick against Ligue 1's bottom club isn't going to be the reason why Hakimi wins the award again, but this display was a timely reminder of the qualities that helped him eclipse the continent's attacking stars to win the prize last year, and establish him as a cornerstone of this magnificent PSG cycle.