AFCON legends: Top 8 football icons who defined Africa's premier tournament
Here are eight players who have starred at the biggest men's team tournament on the continent, ahead of the 2023 edition in Côte d'Ivoire, being held in 2024.
Football
The Africa Cup of Nations has seen its fair share of stars down the years.
George Weah is one of those, but the continent's greatest football export had a minimal impact on the men's AFCON tournament.
The only African to win both FIFA World Player of the Year and Ballon d'Or awards, Weah helped Liberia qualify for the tournament in 1996 and 2002, but misses out with his nation failing to make it out of the group stages on both occasions.
Below are eight players who have helped shape and become synonymous with AFCON including seven men who lifted the trophy, and Didier Drogba who was on the losing side in two finals.
Roger Milla (Cameroon)
You cannot have a conversation about the greatest African players of all time without mentioning Roger Milla, who is perhaps best known these days for his iconic celebration of dancing by the corner flag – most notably at the 1990 World Cup when at 38 he inspired Cameroon to the quarter-finals.
Milla’s goals helped the Indomitable Lions become the first African nation to reach the last eight of the World Cup, while for the striker it was just another chapter in a remarkable career that spanned four decades.
He was named African Footballer of the Year in 1976 and 1990, and was both the best player and top scorer at AFCON in 1986 and 1988, the latter of which they won, four years on from their first-ever triumph where Milla also played a part.
Milla played in four AFCON tournaments, scoring seven goals overall.
Samuel Eto'o is the top AFCON goalscorer of all time.
Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon)
From one Cameroonian legend to another, Samuel Eto’o was a crucial cog in a dominant era for Cameroon, when they became just the second nation after Egypt to defend their ACFON title with back-to-back wins in 2000 and 2002.
Eto’o scored four goals in 2000, the year Cameroon also won Olympic gold, including the opener in the victory over Nigeria in the final.
The former Barcelona and Inter striker would go on to become the top AFCON goalscorer of all time, clocking 18 across six tournaments – top scoring with five at both the 2006 and 2008 editions.
Didier Drogba (Côte d'Ivoire)
The only player on our list not to win AFCON, Didier Drogba watched on in 2015 as Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) won the title just one year after he retired from international football.
It was a near miss for Drogba, just as it had been throughout his career given he lost two AFCON finals in 2006 and 2012, but undoubtedly the former Chelsea striker paved the path for the victory that followed.
Drogba was a shining star within one of African football’s most exciting teams ever, and he remains Côte d'Ivoire's all-time top goalscorer with 65 goals in 105 games.
At AFCON, he was the top scorer in 2012, while he made Team of the Tournament in that year and twice prior in 2006 and 2008 – a period in which Ivory Coast also made three straight World Cup appearances. They were unable to exit their groups, but still each time Drogba dared them to dream. His contribution to African football will never be forgotten.
Ahmed Hassan has won AFCON four times with Egypt.
Ahmed Hassan (Egypt)
Egypt are AFCON heritage. The first winners of the tournament, and the only nation to do the “three-peat” by winning three straight titles in 2006, 2008, and 2010.
At the heart of this hat-trick was Ahmed Hassan, player of the tournament in both 2006 and 2010, and with a remarkable longevity also making him a 1998 winner, no player in history has won more AFCON titles – a feat he shares with compatriot Essam El Hadary.
Only Cameroon’s Rigobert Song has played as many AFCON tournaments as Hassan (eight), while the Egyptian ended his career with 184 international caps – placing him fourth all-time across men’s football, and first among African nations.
Abedi Ayew has been awarded African Footballer of the Year three times.
Abedi Ayew – ‘Pele’ (Ghana)
In a glittering era for African football, Abedi Ayew was one of the dazzling standout stars. Named African Footballer of the Year from 1991 to 1993, he was the top scorer at the 1992 AFCON, and in the team of the tournament for 1992, 1994 and 1996.
The trophy eluded Ghana on those occasions – they were runners-up in 1992 – but Ayew had won AFCON as a 17-year-old a decade prior, coming off the bench in the penalty shootout victory over Libya in the 1982 final.
A key member of Marseille’s 1993 Champions League triumph, Ayew earned the nickname “Pele” before his career took off, while three of his sons – Ibrahim, Andre and Jordan – would go on to represent Ghana as well.
Jay-Jay Okocha (Nigeria)
An English Premier League icon and an all-time African great, Jay-Jay Okocha was more than just a player with a box of tricks – even if his rainbow flicks at Bolton have since become the stuff of football legend.
Okocha was fiercely talented and spearheaded Nigeria for more than a decade – as outlined by his seven Nigerian Footballer of the Year awards between 1995 and 2005.
He was in the team of the tournament when Nigeria won AFCON in 1994, and while the trophy would evade him for the remainder of his career, he was both the joint top scorer and best player in 2004, where they finished third.
Not only is he in the conversation for Nigeria’s best-ever player – he is arguably number one.
Yaya Toure (Côte d'Ivoire)
Heading towards to modern day, we’ve landed on Yaya Toure, another player dining at the top table when it comes to Africa’s best.
The former Barcelona and Manchester City midfielder was a member of a star-studded Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) side repeatedly backed to go far at World Cups.
In the end, they never progressed from their group in 2006, 2010, or 2014 – the only three occasions they have played at the World Cup – but during this era they were contenders on the African stage.
Runners-up in 2006 and 2012, they finally won in 2015, with captain Toure lifting the trophy moments after scoring in the penalty shootout against Ghana – which Ivory Coast won 9-8.
Sadio Mané led Senegal to their first-ever AFCON triumph in 2022.
Sadio Mané (Senegal)
A tale still being told, Sadio Mane will eventually enter AFCON folklore, so why not mention him now?
Mane was the beating heart of Senegal’s first-ever AFCON triumph in 2022. He scored their only goal in the group stages – they topped Group B after two 0-0s followed a 1-0 – and was on target again in the last 16 and semi-final.
But most crucially of all, he stepped up to score the winning penalty in the final against Egypt, a showdown billed as Mane versus Mohamed Salah – when they were both Liverpool players.
Salah would never get a chance to take a penalty in the shootout, his decision to go fifth ultimately questioned after two Egypt misses presented Mane with the opportunity to win it for Senegal.
A pressure penalty for the ages, it had the power to beat Mohamed Abou Gabal and send a nation into raptures. It goes down as Senegal’s finest moment on the international stage, while Mane is on his way to becoming one of Africa’s greatest of all time.