Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mané, Didier Drogba, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang: Who are Africa's top UEFA Champions League performers?
venerdì 20 dicembre 2024
Intro articolo
Which African players have the most appearances and goals in Europe's leading club competition?
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Corpo articolo
Zimbabwe international Bruce Grobbelaar became the first player from an African nation to win this club competition with Liverpool in 1983/84 and an increasing number have followed suit in the years since. Samuel Eto'o (Cameroon) earned three Champions League titles between 2005 and 2010, while Mohamed Salah (Egypt) and Sadio Mané (Senegal) starred as Liverpool added another European title to their collection in 2019.
Last updated: 20/12/2024
Most appearances by African nationals in the UEFA Champions League (group stage/league phase to final)
92: Didier Drogba (CIV – Marseille, Chelsea, Galatasaray)
85: Mohamed Salah (EGY – Basel, Chelsea, Roma, Liverpool)
78: Samuel Eto'o (CMR – Real Madrid, Mallorca, Barcelona, Inter, Chelsea)
76: Michael Essien (GHA – Lyon, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Milan)
72: Samuel Kuffour (GHA – Bayern München)
70: Yaya Touré (CIV – Olympiacos, Barcelona, Manchester City)
67: Kolo Touré (CIV – Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool, Celtic)
66: Emmanuel Eboué (CIV – Arsenal, Galatasaray)
64: Sadio Mané (SEN – Liverpool, Bayern)
62: Seydou Keita (MLI – Marseille, Lens, Sevilla, Barcelona, Roma)
Top-scoring African nationals in the UEFA Champions League (group stage/league phase to final)
46: Mohamed Salah (EGY – Basel, Chelsea, Roma, Liverpool)
44: Didier Drogba (CIV – Marseille, Chelsea, Galatasaray)
30: Samuel Eto'o (CMR – Real Madrid, Mallorca, Barcelona, Inter, Chelsea)
27: Sadio Mané (SEN – Liverpool, Bayern)
20: Riyad Mahrez (ALG – Leicester, Manchester City)
17: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (GAB – Dortmund, Chelsea)
15: Seydou Doumbia (CIV – CSKA Moskva, Basel, Sporting CP)
14: Vincent Aboubakar (CMR – Porto, Beşiktaş)
12: Sébastien Haller (CIV – Ajax, Dortmund)
Most appearances by African nationals in UEFA club competition*
133: Mohamed Salah (EGY – Basel, Chelsea, Fiorentina, Roma, Liverpool)
113: Samuel Eto'o (CMR – Real Madrid, Mallorca, Barcelona, Inter, Anji, Chelsea, Everton)
111: Seydou Keita (MLI – Marseille, Lens, Sevilla, Barcelona, Valencia, Roma)
108: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (GAB – Lille, Dortmund, Arsenal, Barcelona, Chelsea, Marseille)
102: Didier Drogba (CIV – Marseille, Chelsea, Galatasaray)
91: Yaya Touré (CIV – Metalurh Donetsk, Olympiacos, Barcelona, Manchester City)
90: Samuel Kuffour (GHA – Bayern München, Roma, Livorno)
90: Kolo Touré (CIV – Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool, Celtic)
89: Kalidou Koulibaly (SEN – Genk, Napoli, Chelsea)
86: Sadio Mané (SEN – Salzburg, Southampton, Liverpool, Bayern)
Top-scoring African nationals in UEFA club competition*
60: Mohamed Salah (EGY – Basel, Chelsea, Fiorentina, Roma, Liverpool)
56: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (GAB – Lille, Dortmund, Arsenal, Barcelona, Chelsea, Marseille)
50: Didier Drogba (CIV – Marseille, Chelsea, Galatasaray)
48: Samuel Eto'o (CMR – Real Madrid, Mallorca, Barcelona, Inter, Anji, Chelsea, Everton)
35: Sadio Mané (SEN – Salzburg, Southampton, Liverpool, Bayern)
35: George Weah (LBR – Monaco, Paris, Milan)
32: Benni McCarthy (RSA – Ajax, Celta, Porto, Blackburn)
31: Frédéric Kanouté (MLI – Lyon, Sevilla)
29: Seydou Doumbia (CIV – Young Boys, CSKA Moskva, Roma, Basel, Sporting CP)
26: Vincent Aboubakar (CMR – Porto, Beşiktaş)
26: Emmanuel Adebayor (TGO – Monaco, Arsenal, Manchester City, Real Madrid, Tottenham, Başakşehir)
Notable firsts
First African player to win a UEFA club competition
Derek Smethurst (RSA – Chelsea 3-2agg Real Madrid, 1971 European Cup Winners' Cup)
First African player to feature in a UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League final
Abdelkrim Merry (MAR – Bastia 0-3 PSV, 1978)
First African player to win (or feature) in a European Champion Clubs' Cup final
Bruce Grobbelaar (ZIM – Roma 1-1 Liverpool, aet, Liverpool win 4-2 on penalties, 1983/84)
First African player to score in a European Champion Clubs' Cup final
Rabah Madjer (ALG – Bayern 1-2 Porto, 1986/87)
First African player to win the UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League
Taribo West (NGR – Lazio 0-3 Inter, 1998)
Nation-by-nation: Most appearances by African players in UEFA club competition*
Algeria – 66: Sofiane Feghouli (Valencia, West Ham, Galatasaray)
Angola – 25: Manuel Cafumana Show (Ludogorets, Maccabi Haifa)
Benin – 18: Babatounde Bello (Žilina, Spartak Trnava)
Botswana – NONE
Burkina Faso – 72: Charles Kaboré (Marseille, Krasnodar, Dinamo Moskva)
Burundi – 20: Youssouf Ndayishimiye (Başakşehir, Nice)
Cameroon – 113: Samuel Eto'o (Real Madrid, Mallorca, Barcelona, Inter, Anji, Chelsea, Everton)
Cape Verde – 51: Stopira (Fehérvár)
Central African Republic – 25: Foxi Kéthévoama (Újpest, Kecskemét, Astana)
Chad – 23: Japhet N'Doram (Nantes, Monaco)
Comoros – 57: Ben (Olympiacos, Crvena Zvezda)
DR Congo – 61: Dieudonné Mbokani (Standard Liège, Anderlecht, Dynamo Kyiv, Antwerp)
Republic of Congo – 44: Boli Bolingoli-Mbombo (Club Brugge, Rapid Wien, Celtic, Başakşehir)
Djibouti – NONE
Egypt – 133: Mohamed Salah (Basel, Chelsea, Fiorentina, Roma, Liverpool)
Equatorial Guinea – 8: Juvenal Edjogo-Owono (Racing Santander, FC Santa Coloma)
Eritrea – 29: Henok Goitom (AIK Solna)
Eswatini – NONE
Ethiopia – 1: Beneyam Demte (Skënderbeu)
Gabon – 108: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Lille, Dortmund, Arsenal, Barcelona, Chelsea, Marseille)
Gambia – 38: Demba Savage (Honka, HJK, Häcken)
Ghana – 90: Samuel Kuffour (Bayern München, Roma, Livorno)
Guinea – 79: Mady Camara (Olympiacos, Roma, PAOK)
Guinea-Bissau – 49: Amadou Diawara (Napoli, Roma, Anderlecht)
Ivory Coast – 102: Didier Drogba (Marseille, Chelsea, Galatasaray)
Kenya – 33: Victor Wanyama (Celtic, Southampton, Tottenham)
Lesotho – NONE
Liberia – 62: George Weah (Monaco, Paris, Milan)
Libya – 45: Al-Musrati (Vitória SC, Braga, Beşiktaş)
Madagascar – 61: Anicet Abel (CSKA-Sofia, Botev Plovdiv, Ludogorets)
Malawi – 8: Charles Petro (Sheriff)
Mali – 111: Seydou Keita (Marseille, Lens, Sevilla, Barcelona, Valencia, Roma)
Mauritania – 1: Aly Abeid (CFR Cluj)
Mauritius – 4: Diallo Guidileye (AEL Limassol)
Morocco – 83: Hakim Ziyech (Heerenveen, Twente, Ajax, Chelsea, Galatasaray)
Mozambique – 35: Simão (Panathinaikos)
Namibia – 31: Collin Benjamin (Hamburg)
Niger – 43: Ali Mohamed (Beitar Jerusalem, Maccabi Haifa)
Nigeria – 81: Nwankwo Kanu (Ajax, Inter, Arsenal, Portsmouth)
Rwanda – 37: Mohamed Tchité (Standard Liège, Anderlecht, Racing Santander, Club Brugge)
São Tomé and Principe – NONE
Senegal – 89: Kalidou Koulibaly (Genk, Napoli, Chelsea)
Seychelles – NONE
Sierra Leone – 33: Mohamed Kamara (HJK, Partizan)
Somalia – 8: Liban Abdi (Ferencváros, Haugesund)
South Africa – 77: Benni McCarthy (Ajax, Celta, Porto, Blackburn)
South Sudan – NONE
Sudan – NONE
Tanzania – 56: Mbwana Samatta (Genk, Antwerp, PAOK)
Togo – 82: Emmanuel Adebayor (Monaco, Arsenal, Manchester City, Real Madrid, Tottenham, Başakşehir)
Tunisia – 43: Karim Haggui (Strasbourg, Leverkusen, Hannover)
Uganda – 46: Ibrahim Sekagya (Salzburg)
Zambia – 36: Patson Daka (Salzburg, Leicester)
Zimbabwe – 41: Costa Nhamoinesu (Sparta Praha)
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*UEFA club competitions means European Champion Clubs' Cup/UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League, UEFA Conference League, European/South American Cup, Finalissima, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, UEFA Super Cup and UEFA Intertoto Cup