Phosphogypsum is a common large-tonnage by–product in phosphorous chemicals industry, its stacking not only causes severe environmental problems, but also leads to a serious waste of phosphate and fluoride resources. The objective of this study was to tackle the recycling treatment of phosphogypsum leachate by using a highly efficient adsorbent lanthanum hydroxide-modified zeolite (LMZ). The adsorption behaviors of phosphate and fluoride by LMZ in the coexisting system under static and dynamic conditions were studied. And further, the competitive adsorption mechanism involved was analyzed. The results showed that LMZ possessed excellent adsorption performance toward both phosphate and fluoride in the single system, but the fluoride adsorption capacity decreased by 57.9 % in the coexisting system, with no change in phosphate adsorption. In the competitive adsorption process, ligand exchange interaction on La active sites contributed most to phosphate adsorption, while fluoride could be adsorbed onto LMZ via electrostatic attraction, surface precipitation with Al sites, and hydrogen bonds with hydroxyl groups in La−OH and P−OH. In actual phosphogypsum leachate, the removal of phosphate had priority over the removal of fluorine. Under continuous adsorption condition, the concentration of phosphorus and fluoride could be decreased to below 0.5 and 1.0 mg/L, respectively, meeting the safe concentration in drinking water. This study promotes the application of La–based adsorbents in the treatment of phosphogypsum leachate, and provides a green and sustainable strategy toward practical phosphorus and fluorine recovery.