Wachezaji Bora waafrica Wa Muda wote 2022, Greatest African Footballers of All time, greatest AFCON players of all time, 10 Greatest African Players of all time
Ranking of the top 10 all-time AFCON players/ Greatest African Footballers of All time, which includes Didier Drogba and Samuel Eto’o.
Two and a half years after Algeria narrowly defeated Senegal in the 2019 edition, a plethora of nations will have their eyes on the trophy in what appears to be the highest-quality competition of all time.
Greatest African Footballers of All time Numerous Premier League players, including Thomas Partey, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Edouard Mendy, Ismaila Sarr, Sadio Mane, Riyad Mahred, and Mohamed Salah, are present.
Greatest African Footballers of All time
Although the talent pool in African football is deeper and more talented than ever, there is no lack of household names who rank among the finest players the region has ever produced.
Yaya Toure
Toure deserves Greatest African Footballers of All time a spot on the list since he has been named African Footballer of the Year four times and helped Ivory Coast win the 2015 AFCON championship after finishing twice as runner-up.
won three Premier League titles with Manchester City, where he truly blossomed as a worldwide star and was a driving force behind the club’s accomplishments, and two La Liga wins with Barcelona.
Toure started his career as a striker, switched to defensive midfield, and eventually became a box-to-box player.
Nwankwo Kanu
Kanu, who won the African Footballer of the Year award twice, distinguished noted for his unconventional but extremely effective style of play. Kanu was a graceful football player with significant mobility, on-pitch intelligence, quick feet, and technical aptitude. He was 1.97m tall with a slim body but noticeable physical strength.
Despite winning an Olympic gold medal in 1996, the striker represented Nigeria in three World Cups, but the Super Eagles consistently came up short in the AFCON.
Along with several other awards, he won the Champions League with Ajax, the UEFA Cup with Inter, and three Premier League championships with Arsenal.
Jay-Jay Okocha
Okocha was one of the most talented players of his generation thanks to his exquisite technical skill and flair, which earned him the nickname “so excellent, they named him twice.”
won the AFCON in 1994 and, two years later, scored an Olympic goal for the Super Eagles. In 2004, he shared the AFCON scoring lead and was named the tournament’s standout player.
Okocha, who played for Fenerbahce, Paris Saint-Germain, and Bolton among other teams, never won a league championship, and his trophy collection is remarkably meager for a player of his caliber.
Okocha will forever be remembered as a legend of African football because he was visually pleasing and made playing football enjoyable with his variety of crazy antics and daring skill.
Michael Essien
Essien is without a doubt one of the finest midfielders of this century and one of the greatest African players of all time, but his lack of success with Ghana keeps him from being ranked higher.
His biggest national team performances were a 2010 AFCON runner-up finish and a World Cup participation, which pale in comparison to his stellar club career.
Essien made his name playing for a dominant Lyon squad before thriving at Chelsea, where he won two Premier League championships and the Champions League.
a magnificent two-decade club career came to an end in 2020.
Abedi Ayew ‘Pele’
Pele, who played for Marseille and was named after the well-known Brazilian, was one of the finest players in the world in the early 1990s.
He assisted them in reaching the Champions League final, which they eventually won in 1993, and in winning back-to-back Ligue 1 championships (with a third title being removed from the club’s record).
In 1982, Pele and Ghana won the AFCON. Ten years later, as the Black Stars fell to the Ivory Coast in the championship game, Pele was voted player of the event.
He was three times African Player of the Year winner and ranked among the best three Africans of all time by IFFHS, although he never had the chance to play for Ghana in a World Cup.
Essam El-Hadary
El-Hadary was Egypt’s most successful player in AFCON history, having won the tournament four times with his team. The distinguished goalkeeper, who received 159 national caps, only spent one season in Europe, playing for Swiss club Sion.
In the AFCON finals, he had three shutouts and was referred to by Didier Drogba as his hardest opponent ever. He won the championship with Al-Merreikh in Sudan, but Al Ahly was his team of choice in Egypt, where he won the league an incredible eight times.
He was the oldest player in the history of the World Cup when he participated in it in 2018 at the age of 45.
Didier Drogba
Drogba, a player who needs no introduction, outperformed his Ivory Coast teammates at the club level. The Ivory Coast is an African country that in the 2000s made many promises but fell short of delivering on them (prior to their 2015 AFCON crown, which Drogba missed out on).
While playing for Chelsea, where he won the 2012 Champions League, and Galatasaray, Drogba won 17 titles overall, although he never had success with Les Éléphants.
He just narrowly misses out on a top three slot despite having twice been named African Player of the Year and even been given credit for ending a civil war in his own country.
Samuel Eto’o
The most successful African player to play at the highest level of European football is the four-time African Player of the Year. With Barcelona and Inter, Eto’o has won three Champions League titles. In the 2006 championship game, Barca’s victory over Arsenal earned him the Man of the Match award.
The Cameroonian striker also spent time at Real Mallorca, Chelsea, Everton, and Sampdoria throughout his illustrious career, which saw him score over 400 goals in the league.
Eto’o has won two AFCON tournaments, is the tournament’s all-time leading scorer, earned an Olympic gold medal, and has competed for the Indomitable Lions in three World Cups.
Roger Milla
Milla led the revolutionary Cameroon squad at the 1990 World Cup and is arguably the most recognizable African footballer of all time.
At the ripe old age of 38, he scored four goals to assist Cameroon in becoming the first African side to go to the World Cup quarterfinals. He was also famed for his celebratory dance around the corner celebration after each goal.
The 1994 World Cup saw Milla, a two-time African Footballer of the Year, score against Russia, making him the oldest player to have ever scored in the tournament at the age of 42.
Milla was recognized as the top African footballer of the preceding 50 years by the Confederation of African Football in 2007.
Although he scored over 400 goals during his club career and played for multiple Ligue 1 teams, he never scored more than 13 goals in a single season in the top division.
Despite reaching a larger audience in the 1990s, Milla’s best years were the 1980s, when she helped The Indomitable Lions win the AFCON championships in 1984 and 1988.
George Weah
Three times awarded African Footballer of the Year, Weah earned the moniker “King George” and the title of finest African player of the 20th century as a result of his popularity in the 1990s.
Weah won the European Footballer of the Year and FIFA World Player of the Year awards that year, making him the first and only African player to ever win the Ballon d’Or.
He is most known for his time at Milan Greatest African Footballers of All time, when he led the Rossoneri to two Serie A championships. However, he also won six trophies during stints with Monaco, Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea, and the FA Cup.
Weah, who hails from the relatively small country of Liberia with a population of 5 million, never saw international success, but he had a significant impact on African football.
Weah, one of the best players of the 1990s, was renowned for his dribbling, acceleration, and speed as well as his ability to score goals. Liberia’s president at the moment is “King George,” who entered politics.
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