African legends who conquered world football but never won AFCON

The Africa Cup of Nations is a tournament famed for its drama and cruelty, often denying even the greatest stars their ultimate continental reward. As AFCON 2025 unfolds in Morocco this December, OLAMIDE ABE reflects on ten legendary players who defined eras yet never lifted Africa’s most coveted trophy

Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast)

105 caps, 65 goals

Greatest achievement: Winning the 2012 UEFA Champions League and being a four-time Premier League winner with Chelsea.

AFCON heartbreak: Runner-up in 2006 and 2012.

Didier Drogba is the ultimate paradox of African football. He is a man who stopped a civil war in his country and conquered Europe with a match-winning penalty in Munich, yet he was cursed when it came to the AFCON. Drogba led Ivory Coast’s “Golden Generation,” a squad featuring Yaya Touré, Kolo Touré, and Gervinho. In 2006, they fell to Egypt in a penalty shootout.

The most painful moment, however, came in 2012. Facing a spirited Zambia team, Drogba missed a crucial penalty in regulation time. The match went to a shootout, which the Elephants lost. In a cruel twist of fate, Drogba retired from international football in 2014, just one year before Ivory Coast finally broke their jinx to win the 2015 edition. He remains the greatest African striker never to have won the title.

Nwankwo Kanu (Nigeria)

86 caps, 12 goals

Greatest achievement: Winning the UEFA Champions League (Ajax), the UEFA Cup (Inter Milan), the Premier League “Invincibles” title (Arsenal), and an Olympic Gold Medal (1996).

AFCON heartbreak: Runner-up in 2000.

“Papilo” is arguably Nigeria’s most decorated player in history. He survived a heart scare early in his career to become a global icon of technical brilliance. However, the AFCON was his Achilles’ heel. Kanu played in six AFCON tournaments, but his closest encounter with the trophy was the 2000 final co-hosted by Nigeria and Ghana.

In front of a packed National Stadium in Lagos, Nigeria clawed back from 2-0 down to 2-2 against Cameroon. In the ensuing penalty shootout, Kanu, the man known for his ice-cold composure, missed his spot-kick.

Cameroon won, and Kanu spent the rest of his international career collecting Bronze medals (2002, 2004, 2006, 2010), never reaching the summit again.

George Weah (Liberia)

75 caps, 18 goals

Greatest achievement: The only African player to win the Ballon d’Or and FIFA World Player of the Year (1995).

AFCON heartbreak: Never reached the knockout stages.

George Weah is widely considered the greatest African player of the 20th century. He won everything at the club level with AC Milan and PSG, but he was a “Lone Star” in a literal sense. Liberia was never a footballing powerhouse, and Weah often had to personally fund the team’s travel and equipment.

He qualified Liberia for the AFCON in 1996 and 2002, but they were knocked out in the group stages both times.

Weah’s greatness transcends trophies, he is now the former President of his country, but on the pitch, he remains the highest-profile player to never even play in an AFCON second round.

Mohamed Salah (Egypt)

109 caps, 63 goals

Greatest achievement: Winning the UEFA Champions League and Premier League with Liverpool; multiple-time PL Golden Boot winner.

AFCON heartbreak: Runner-up in 2017 and 2021.

As of today in AFCON 2025, Salah is still fighting. He is the only player on this list who could potentially remove himself from it by the end of this tournament. Despite Egypt being the most successful nation in AFCON history (Seven titles), Salah joined the national team just as their “Golden Era” of 2006–2010 ended.

Salah carried a mediocre Egypt side to the 2017 final, only to lose to a late Cameroon goal. In 2021, he watched from the sidelines as his then-teammate Sadio Mane scored the winning penalty for Senegal in the final.

For a man who has broken almost every record in England, the lack of an AFCON title is the only thing standing between him and being undisputed as the greatest African player of all time.

El Hadji Diouf (Senegal)

70 caps, 24 goals

Greatest achievement: Two-time African Player of the Year (2001, 2002) and World Cup 2002 All-Star.

AFCON heartbreak: Runner-up in 2002.

Before the era of Sadio Mane, there was El Hadji Diouf. The Teranga Lion was a force of nature in the early 2000s, leading Senegal to a historic World Cup quarter-final in 2002. However, earlier that same year, Diouf faced Cameroon in the AFCON final in Mali.

The match was a tactical stalemate that ended 0-0. In the shootout, Diouf and his teammates faltered, handing the title to the Indomitable Lions.

Diouf’s career was often marred by controversy, but his talent was undeniable. He retired as a two-time Player of the Year who conquered the world’s stage but failed to conquer his own continent.

Asamoah Gyan (Ghana)

109 caps, 51 goals

Greatest achievement: Highest African goalscorer in FIFA World Cup history (6 goals) and Ghana’s all-time top scorer.

AFCON heartbreak: Runner-up in 2010 and 2015.

Gyan’s career is a Shakespearean tragedy. He is the hero who always arrived but was often undone by a single moment at the penalty spot. In 2010, a young Ghana side led by Gyan reached the final, only to be heartbroken by a late Gedo strike for Egypt.

In 2015, Gyan led the Black Stars to the final against Ivory Coast. After 120 minutes of football, the game went to penalties. Ghana led 2-0 in the shootout but somehow conspired to lose 9-8.

Gyan, who had been substituted late in the game, could only watch in agony. His legacy is one of immense service, yet he remains the face of Ghana’s 40-plus year trophy drought.

Emmanuel Adebayor (Togo)

87 caps, 32 goals

Greatest achievement: 2008 African Player of the Year and starring for Real Madrid, Arsenal, and Manchester City.

AFCON heartbreak: Never progressed past the Quarter-finals (2013).

Adebayor was a giant in a small footballing nation. While other players on this list had world-class supporting casts, Adebayor often had to carry Togo on his back. His greatest feat was leading the tiny nation to the 2006 World Cup.

In the AFCON, his best finish was the quarter-finals in 2013, where Togo was eliminated by eventual finalists Burkina Faso.

Adebayor’s relationship with the Togo FA was often fractious, involving strikes over bonuses and security concerns, notably the 2010 bus attack. Despite his individual brilliance and European success, the lack of a deep AFCON run is the missing chapter in his storied career.

Michael Essien (Ghana)

59 caps, 9 goals

Greatest achievement: Winning the UEFA Champions League (2012) and multiple league titles with Lyon and Chelsea.

AFCON heartbreak: Runner-up in 2010.

Often called the “Bison” for his strength, endurance, and heart, Essien was the engine room of the great Chelsea and Ghana teams of the mid-2000s. A powerhouse who redefined the box-to-box midfielder role in his prime. However, injuries often cruelly timed themselves with the AFCON.

In 2008, Ghana hosted the tournament and Essien was magnificent, but they were shocked by Cameroon in the semi-finals. In 2010, he traveled to the tournament but was injured in the first game, watching from the treatment table as a youthful Ghana reached the final and lost to Egypt.

Like his teammate Gyan, Essien represents a generation of Ghanaian excellence that was rich in talent but poor in continental luck.

Mustapha Hadji (Morocco)

63 caps, 12 goals

Greatest achievement: 1998 African Player of the Year and iconic performances in the 1998 World Cup.

AFCON heartbreak: Best finish quarter-finals (1998).

Mustapha Hadji was the “Artist of the Atlas Mountains.” With his flowing locks and incredible vision, he was the face of Moroccan football in the late 90s. His overhead kick against Egypt in the 1998 AFCON remains one of the greatest goals in the tournament’s history.

Despite his individual awards, Morocco struggled for consistency during his era. They were often pre-tournament favorites who flattered to deceive, suffering early exits.

Hadji retired as a legend of the game, but without the medal that his country finally won in 1976 and hasn’t touched since.

Kalusha Bwalya (Zambia)

87 caps, 39 goals

Greatest achievement: 1988 African Player of the Year and the second-highest scorer in the 1996 AFCON.

AFCON heartbreak: Runner-up in 1994.

The story of Kalusha Bwalya is the most emotional in African football history. In 1993, the entire Zambian national team and its management perished in a plane crash off the coast of Gabon on April 28. Bwalya, who was in Europe at the time, was the only survivor, as he was playing for PSV and his schedule had him flying directly from the Netherlands to Senegal to join the team, rather than being on the team plane.

Driven by the memory of his fallen brothers, he led a hastily assembled team of rookies to the 1994 AFCON final in Tunisia. In one of the most emotional matches ever played, they took the lead against Nigeria, but two goals from Emmanuel Amuneke gave the Super Eagles the title. Bwalya’s runner-up medal in 1994 is worth more than most winners’ medals, which represents the triumph of the human spirit over tragedy.

This was to be the peak of his own career and Zambian football for a long time to come. The team finished in third place at the next edition of the AFCON in South Africa in 1996, with Bwalya winning the Golden Boot Award as the top scorer at the tournament.