The African continent has produced some of the world’s best footballers over the years. Thanks to our readers, we have compiled the results of the votes to our Best African Soccer Players questionnaire.
Lets start with the front men.
Top 10 African Strikers
10. Asamoah Gyan
Asamoah Gyan is the all-time leading goalscorer for the Black Stars of Ghana with 49 goals in over 100 matches and has been the goalscoring machine for his country since the retirement of Tony Yeboah.
Gyan is also the highest-scoring African player in the history of the FIFA World Cup with six goals. He has so far represented Ghana in 3 World Cups and scored his country’s first-ever World Cup goal in 68 seconds in a match against the Czech Republic in Germany in 2006.
9. Benni McCarthy
Benni McCarthy is one of the most prolific strikers of his generation. He scored South Africa’s first-ever World Cup goal in a match against Denmark in France.
McCarthy burst into the African football scene at the 1998 African Cup of Nations in Burkina Faso, scoring four goals in a group match against Namibia.
Ranked number nine in the Best African Soccer Players list, the South African had a hugely decorated career winning the UEFA Champions League with Porto in 2004 and winning the golden boot in the Portuguese League, scoring 20 goals in 23 matches. He is one of the greatest ever strikers produced in South Africa and the continent.
8. Emmanuel Adebayo
Togo’s all-time leading goalscorer with 31 goals in 75 matches. He’s goals and inspiration took Togo to the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany. He was crowned African Footballer of the year in 2008.
7. Rashidi Yekini
Rashidi Yekini was the 1993 African Footballer of the year, who scored 37 goals and represented the Super Eagles in five major tournaments.
He is remembered for his exploits at the 1994 FIFA World Cup, where he scored the Country’s first-ever goal at the World Cup in a 3-0 win over Bulgaria.
He was the top scorer at the 1994 African cup of nations which Nigeria won, and was also voted the best player of the tournament. He was a bustling center-forward who will be remembered for his wild celebrations of grabbing the nets.
6. Patrick Mboma
Patrick Mboma is famously known for his fearsome power on his left foot won two African Cup of Nations titles with the indomitable Lions of Cameroon, including the 2000 Olympics soccer tournament. Mboma scored 33 goals in 57 matches and was crowned Africa’s best player in 2000 and deserves to in the Best African soccer players top ten strikers list.
5. El hadj Diouf
El hadj Diouf has been crowned the best player on the continent on two occasions and scored 21 goals for the Teranga Lions. However, his best contribution was leading the team to their first-ever World Cup qualification at the 2002 FIFA World Cup finals in Korea and Japan, where Senegal reached the Quarterfinals with Diouf shinning on the biggest stage of all and making the World Cup All-Star team.
His exploits earned him big money to Premier League giants Liverpool where he subsequently won the 2005 champions League, famously known as the “ miracle of Istanbul”.
4. Nwanko Kanu
Nwanko Kanu is a two-time African footballer of the year and one of the most decorated players on the continent, having almost every competition in world football except for the World Cup.
He also played for the world’s top clubs, such as Ajax Amsterdam, where he won the Champions League. At Inter Milan, he won the UEFA Cup playing alongside Ronaldo and later joined Arsenal, where he played for the “Invincibles” scoring over 50 goals for the Gunners.
3. Didier Drogba
Didier Drogba is the all-time leading goalscorer for Ivory Coast, with 65 goals in over 100 matches. The two-time African Footballer of the year scored more goals at Chelsea than any other foreign player.
He is the 4th highest goalscorer of all time at the club. In 2012 he became the first African player to score 100 premier league goals. The icing on the cake for the big Ivorian was the 2010 UEFA Champions League final against Bayern Munich, where he scored an equalizer in the 88th minute, taking the match into extra time. In the penalty shoot-out, Drogba scored the decisive penalty that gave Chelsea their first-ever Champions League title.
2. Samuel Eto’o
Samuel Eto’o scored over 100 goals in 5 seasons at Camp Nou, winning the champions league with the club in 2006 and scoring in the final. He was just short of a few votes to be number one on the Best African soccer players list.
He went on to win another Champions League with Inter Milan under Jose Mourinho, scoring 33 goals in 67 matches. A true African great who was crowned the best player on the continent four times (three in a row). He is the Cameroon’s all-time leading scorer with 56 goals in 118 appearances.
George Weah
King George Weah is arguably the greatest African Footballer of all time. In 1995, he made history when he became the first and only African player to win the awards for the African, European, and World player of the year.
In 1996 was named African player of the century. During his career, he played for the world’s top teams, such AS Monaco, PSG, AC Milan, Manchester City, Chelsea, and Olympique Marseille. He scored 22 goals for Liberia in 60 matches, helping his country qualify for two African Cup of Nations finals in 1996 and 2002.
Other strikers who received votes but missed out on the top ten positions for the Best African Soccer Players are:
- Frederic Kanoute (Mali)
- Patrick M’Boma (Cameroon)
- Tony Yeboah (Ghana)
- Mustapha Hadji (Morocco)
- Hossam Hassan (Egypt)
- Yakubu (Nigeria)
- Emmanuel Adebayor (Togo)
- Mahmoud El-Khatib (Egypt)
- Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon)
- Rabah Madjer (Algeria)
- Jay Jay Okocha (Nigeria)
- Sadio Mane (Senegal)
- Mohamed Salah (Egypt)
- Roger Milla (Cameroon)
