Great players from the African continent have contributed immensely to the game of football both locally and internationally. However, unfortunately, some of these Great African players never had the honor of Lifting the coveted African Nations cup despite their great exploits abroad. This article reviews great African Footballers that never won AFCON
Interestingly, many of them have made a mark for themselves and the continent at Large by winning various trophies like the UEFA Champions League, Europa Cup, league titles across different European top-flight leagues, and many more.
Here are some of the great African footballers who never won AFCON in no particular order:
Read Also: Who are the Best African Wingers of all Time?
1. Samuel Osei Kuffor
A Ghanaian rock-solid Defender who played in the heart of defense in his playing days, Kuffor played for top European clubs across Europe and won important trophies.
Kuffor represented Ajax, AS Roma, and Bayern Munich of Germany where he won the most prestigious club football Trophy, the champions league in 2001. He also won six German league Titles, four-time German cup winners, one intercontinental cup winner, 1991 under 17 world cup winners with Ghana, and many more.
Kuffor played in the 2006 world cup in Germany, played in 1996, 1998, 2000, and 2002 African Nation’s cup Editions. But unfortunately, he never lifted the prestigious Africa cup of Nations
Read Also: Best International Footballers of All-Time
2. EL Hadji Ousseynou Diouf
Diouf is a former Senegalese player who played across Europe for clubs in France like Rennes, Sochaux, Lens. In 2002, Diouf joined Liverpool where he won the league cup in the 2002/03 season. He also played for the likes of Bolton Wanderers, Blackburn Rovers, Sunderland.
The Senegalese star then moved to the Scottish league where he won the Scottish premier league and league cup with Rangers in 2010/2011.
He was also part of the Senegalese team that narrowly lost to Cameroon in the 2002 Africa Nations cup final and also played in the Korea/Japan 2002 world cup tournament.
Diouf is a two-time African footballer of the year award winner but never won AFCON.
Read Also: Best Football App for Android And IOS
3 . Mustapha Hadji
Hadji is a former Moroccan player and a great player during his playing days. He played in Europe for clubs like Deportivo la Coruna, Espanyol, Convetry city, Aston villa, AS Nancy, Sporting Lisbon, and many more.
The former Moroccan International played in the 1998 and 2000 African Nations Cup and two World Cup Finals -one in the USA 1994 and the other in France 1998.
Hadji won the African footballer of the year award after the France 98 world cup tournament. Unfortunately, he is one of the great Africans who never won the African Cup of Nations.
Read Also: Best Africans To Play in The MLS
4 . Michael Kojo Essien
Micheal Essien was an integral part of Chelsea FC that won the maiden Champions League crown in 2012. The Former Ghanian International was at a point in time Africa’s most expensive player when he signed for Chelsea in 2005 for a fee of £24.4 million.
Essien won 1 Champions League, 3 FA Cups, 2 League Cups, and 1 Premier League title for Chelsea. He has 17 goals to his name in the premier league.
The former Chelsea midfielder Played in the 2006 and 2014 World Cups, one in Germany and Brazil respectively. Essien played for Ghana in three African nations cup but he never won the African Cup of Nations in his illustrious career.
Consider Reading: The Most Common Last Names in Football
5. Nwankwo Kanu
The former Nigerian international forward player is one of Africa’s most decorated players. Kanu established himself very well in the game of football and in the process winning many accolades, especially at Arsenal.
Kanu played for the likes of Ajax Amsterdam winning the champions league in 1995. He also won the UEFA Cup, Premier League, FA Cup, Olympic gold medal, and is a two-time African footballer of the year winner.
The former Arsenal Man played in three World Cups and narrowly lost the Nation’s cup final to Cameroon in the Africa Nations cup final in the year 2000. Kanu won the under 17 world cup in Japan in 1993 with Nigeria.
Despite having an illustrious career he never won the Africa Nation’s cup Trophy.
Read Also: Who Are AFCON Top Scorers of All Time?
6. Didier Drogba
Didier Drogba is generally seen as the Greatest African Player by some sections of Football fans. He is a two-time African footballer of the year winner, one in 2006 and the other in 2009.
Drogba won the UEFA champions league title, Europa league Trophy, FA Cup, and the Premier League with Chelsea. As a former captain of the Ivorian national team, he played in three world cups, 2006, 2010, and 2014. Drogba is also regarded as one of Chelsea’s greatest strikers ever!
The Former Ivorian Captain played in several Nations Cup and lost in the two finals he featured. Ivory Coast lost to Egypt in 2006 and Zambia in 2012.
Without any doubt, Drogba is one of Africa’s Great Players that never won AFCON.
Read Also: 10 Largest Stadiums in Africa
Conclusion
The African Cup of Nations is the most prestigious team accolade for any African Footballer. However, there are many great Africans who have performed well for their Club that never the Trophy.
This article highlights some great Africans that never won the African Cup of Nation. The list is obviously more than this but we just highlighted a few of them.
Who’re your most notable African Footballers that never won AFCON?
Further Reading:
