Some of the greatest soccer players to ever come out of Africa have never lifted the continent’s biggest trophy.
It sounds impossible, right? We are talking about players who won the Ballon d’Or, Champions League titles, and Premier League championships. These are the best African players of all time. Yet somehow, the Africa Cup of Nations trophy never made it into their hands.
AFCON is the most important tournament in African soccer. Winning it means everything to players and fans across the continent. But for these 10 legends, the trophy always stayed just out of reach. Some lost heartbreaking finals on penalty kicks. Others played for smaller countries that simply could not compete with the big nations.
Here are the greatest African footballers who retired (or are still playing) without ever winning AFCON.
Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast)
Didier Drogba is one of the most dominant strikers in soccer history. At Chelsea, he was nearly unstoppable. He won four Premier League titles and scored the winning penalty in the 2012 Champions League final. The man showed up in big games like nobody else.
But at AFCON? Heartbreak every single time.
Drogba led Ivory Coast’s famous “Golden Generation” to two AFCON finals, in 2006 and 2012. They lost both on penalty kicks. In 2006 against Egypt, Drogba missed his penalty in the shootout. In 2012 against Zambia, he blasted a late penalty over the crossbar when his team needed him most.
The cruel twist? Ivory Coast finally won AFCON in 2015, just months after Drogba retired from international soccer. He finished his career with 65 goals in 105 games for his country, making him their all-time leading scorer. But that gold medal never came.
George Weah (Liberia)
George Weah remains the only African player to ever win the Ballon d’Or. Let that sink in. Out of every incredible player the continent has produced, only Weah has claimed soccer’s biggest individual prize.
He won it in 1995 while dominating for AC Milan. He also won the FIFA World Player of the Year award and was named African Footballer of the Year three times. At club level, Weah was unstoppable.
But Liberia is a small country with a tiny soccer program. Weah basically carried the team on his back. They only qualified for AFCON twice during his career, in 1996 and 2002, and got knocked out in the group stage both times. Since Weah retired, Liberia has not qualified for a single AFCON tournament. That shows you just how important he was.
After soccer, Weah became the President of Liberia from 2018 to 2024. He conquered the world in almost every way possible. But AFCON glory was never meant to be.
Mohamed Salah (Egypt)
This one hurts because it is still happening.
Mohamed Salah is the best player in the Premier League right now and one of the greatest African players of the modern era. He has won the Champions League, the Premier League, and multiple Golden Boot awards with Liverpool. His trophy cabinet is packed.
But Egypt, despite being the most successful country in AFCON history with seven titles, has not won since 2010. That was before Salah became a star.
Salah has reached two AFCON finals, in 2017 and 2022. He lost both times. The 2022 final against Senegal was especially painful. Egypt lost on penalties, and Salah was waiting to take their fifth kick. But his teammates missed before he even got a chance to shoot.
At 33 years old, AFCON 2025 in Morocco might be one of his last real chances to finally win it.
Nwankwo Kanu (Nigeria)
Kanu was pure magic on the ball. The tall, lanky forward had a style all his own, gliding past defenders like they were not even there. He won the Champions League with Ajax, the UEFA Cup with Inter Milan, and had a legendary spell at Arsenal.
With Nigeria, he helped win Olympic gold in 1996, one of the greatest moments in African soccer history. He also won African Footballer of the Year twice.
But AFCON? Always so close, never quite there.
Kanu’s best chance came in 2000 when Nigeria hosted the tournament. They reached the final against Cameroon, and Kanu missed his penalty in the shootout as Nigeria lost 4-3. He also made it to four different semi-finals (2002, 2004, 2006, and 2010) but lost every single time. It became almost cursed.
Michael Essien (Ghana)
Michael Essien was a midfield monster. At Chelsea, he was one of the most complete players in the world. Strong, fast, and with a rocket of a shot, Essien could do everything.
Ghana has a proud soccer history, but they have not won AFCON since 1982. Essien tried his best to change that.
His closest shot came in 2010 when Ghana reached the final. But Essien got injured during the tournament and could only watch from the sidelines as his team lost to Egypt. Injuries constantly ruined his AFCON dreams. He missed the entire 2006 tournament and never got another real chance at glory.
Emmanuel Adebayor (Togo)
Adebayor was one of the most talented strikers of his generation. He starred for Arsenal, Manchester City, Real Madrid, and Tottenham. In 2008, he was named African Footballer of the Year, beating out Didier Drogba and Samuel Eto’o for the award.
But here is the problem: he played for Togo.
Togo is a small West African nation that has never come close to winning AFCON. The best Adebayor ever managed was a quarter-final appearance in 2013, where Togo lost to Burkina Faso.
No matter how brilliant he was individually, he simply did not have the supporting cast to compete with powerhouse nations like Nigeria, Egypt, or Cameroon.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon)
Aubameyang is Gabon’s greatest player ever. He holds the national team’s scoring record with 39 goals and won the Premier League Golden Boot with Arsenal. His speed and finishing ability made him one of the deadliest strikers in Europe for years.
He has played in five different AFCON tournaments, but Gabon has never made it past the quarter-finals. In 2012, when Gabon co-hosted the tournament, Aubameyang was joint top scorer of the whole competition.
But he missed the deciding penalty in the shootout against Mali, and Gabon’s dream ended right there.
At 36, he is still playing international soccer, but time is running out.
Asamoah Gyan (Ghana)
Asamoah Gyan is Ghana’s all-time leading scorer and one of the most beloved players in the country’s history.
He is also famous for one of the most dramatic moments in World Cup history, missing a penalty against Uruguay in the 2010 quarter-finals that would have made Ghana the first African team to reach a World Cup semi-final.
At AFCON, Gyan came close but never won. His best finish was runner-up in 2010, when Ghana lost to Egypt in the final. He played in multiple tournaments from 2008 to 2019 but retired without ever lifting the trophy.
Seydou Keita (Mali)
Seydou Keita is one of the most underrated African players ever. At Barcelona, he was a key part of the team that won six trophies in one year under Pep Guardiola (who called him his little girl), including the Champions League in 2009. He won 14 major titles with Barcelona and played over 180 games for the club.
For Mali, Keita holds the records for most caps (102) and most goals (25). He played in seven different AFCON tournaments from 2002 to 2015. But Mali has never won the tournament, and Keita came up short every time.
His best finish was third place in 2012 and 2013. In 2013, he even scored the equalizer against hosts South Africa in the quarter-final before Mali won on penalties. But that was as close as he ever got to glory.
Benni McCarthy (South Africa)
Benni McCarthy is the only South African player to ever win the UEFA Champions League, lifting the trophy with Porto in 2004. He is also South Africa’s all-time leading scorer with 31 goals in 80 international appearances.
At AFCON 1998, McCarthy was absolutely dominant. He scored seven goals, including four in just 13 minutes against Namibia, the fastest four-goal haul in AFCON history. He won the Golden Boot and was named Player of the Tournament.
But South Africa lost the final to Egypt, and McCarthy never got that close again. The cruel irony? South Africa won AFCON in 1996, just one year before McCarthy made his international debut. He joined the team right after they won, and they never won again during his career.
Why AFCON Is So Hard to Win
Looking at this list, you see some of the best African players of all time. Ballon d’Or winners. Champions League winners. Premier League legends. Yet none of them won Africa’s biggest prize.
AFCON is a brutal tournament. It happens every two years (now moved to odd years), so players only get a handful of chances in their careers. One bad game, one penalty miss, one unlucky injury, and your dream is over for another two years.
For players from smaller countries like Liberia, Togo, or Gabon, winning is nearly impossible no matter how talented they are. Soccer is a team sport, and one superstar cannot do it alone.
AFCON 2025 in Morocco gives some of these active players one more shot. Salah and Aubameyang are still chasing the dream. But for the retired legends on this list, the trophy that mattered most will forever remain the one that got away.
