10 greatest African players who never won AFCON titles

The Africa Cup of Nations is the ultimate stage for continental glory, yet some of the most iconic figures in football history have never hoisted the trophy.

Despite dominating European leagues and winning prestigious individual awards, these legends found the AFCON title to be an elusive dream.

Their careers serve as a reminder that international success often requires a perfect alignment of timing, squad depth, and luck.

This article celebrates ten titans of the African game who, despite their monumental impact on the sport, have not won an AFCON winner’s medal.

Kanu Nwankwo is arguably one of the most decorated African players in club history, yet the AFCON trophy is the one glaring omission from his cabinet.

Known for his incredible technical ability and "Papilo" magic, Kanu led Nigeria to an Olympic Gold medal in 1996 and won the UEFA Champions League with Ajax. His individual brilliance earned him the African Footballer of the Year award twice, in 1996 and 1999.

In the Premier League, he became a cult hero at Arsenal, contributing to the famous "Invincibles" season and an icon at Portsmouth after contributing to their 2008 FA Cup triumph. His height, combined with a delicate touch and vision, made him a unique playmaker who could change the course of a game with a single flick or pass.

Despite his club success, Kanu’s journey with the Super Eagles in AFCON was a story of "so close, yet so far."

He participated in six different AFCON tournaments (2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, and 2010). His best finish came in the 2000 edition, co-hosted by Nigeria and Ghana, where the Super Eagles lost a heartbreaking final to Cameroon on penalties.

In subsequent years, Kanu became a perennial bronze medalist, finishing third in 2002, 2004, 2006, and 2010. While he remained a leader and an inspiration for the Nigerian side for over a decade, he retired without the gold medal he so desperately craved.

George Weah remains the only African player to have won the Ballon d'Or and the FIFA World Player of the Year award, achieving this feat in 1995.

His legacy is etched in football history through his breathtaking spells at AC Milan, Paris Saint-Germain, and Monaco. Weah was a force of nature; a combination of raw power, explosive speed, and clinical finishing that terrified defenders across Europe.

Beyond his physical attributes, he was a symbol of hope for Liberia, often personally funding the national team’s travel and equipment during times of civil unrest. His impact on African football transcends the pitch, as he used his platform to advocate for peace and eventually became the President of his nation.

However, Weah’s international career was hampered by the lack of depth in the Liberian national squad. Known as the Lone Stars, Liberia struggled to compete with the continental giants. Weah participated in only two AFCON tournaments, in 1996 and 2002. In both instances, Liberia failed to progress past the group stages.

His best finish was effectively a first-round exit, a statistic that does not do justice to his individual greatness.

While he conquered the world at the club level and won numerous league titles in Italy and France, the African crown remained out of reach due to the massive disparity between his world-class talent and the supporting cast available to him.

Mohamed Salah is widely considered one of the greatest African players of the modern era, having shattered countless records in the English Premier League with Liverpool.

His achievements include winning the Champions League, the Premier League, and multiple Golden Boots, all while being named African Footballer of the Year twice.

Salah’s blistering pace and left-footed precision have made him a global icon. For Egypt, he has been the primary talisman, carrying the hopes of a football-obsessed nation. He famously led the Pharaohs back to the FIFA World Cup in 2018 after a long hiatus, cementing his status as a living legend in North Africa.

Despite Egypt being the most successful nation in AFCON history with seven titles, Salah has yet to add an eighth for his country. He has participated in four tournaments (2017, 2019, 2021, and 2023).

Salah has come agonisingly close on two occasions, reaching the final in both 2017 and 2021. In 2017, Egypt fell to Cameroon late in the game, and in 2021, they suffered a painful penalty shootout defeat to Senegal.

While he remains active and may have more opportunities in the future, the lack of an AFCON title remains the only significant void in an otherwise flawless professional resume.

Didier Drogba is the quintessential African striker, a powerhouse who defined an era at Chelsea and led Ivory Coast into its Golden Generation.

A two-time African Footballer of the Year, Drogba won four Premier League titles and famously delivered the Champions League trophy to Chelsea in 2012. His leadership was as vital as his goals; he was a unifying figure who famously helped halt a civil war in his home country.

On the pitch, his aerial dominance and ability to score from almost any angle made him one of the most feared strikers in the history of the sport. He scored over 60 goals for the Elephants, making him their all-time leading scorer.

The tragedy of Drogba’s international career is that Ivory Coast’s Golden Generation never managed to win the AFCON while he was active. Drogba played in five tournaments (2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, and 2013), reaching the final twice, in 2006 and 2012, losing both on penalties to Egypt and Zambia, respectively.

In the 2012 final, Drogba famously missed a crucial penalty during regulation time that could have sealed the title. Ironically, the Ivory Coast finally won the trophy in 2015, just one year after Drogba had announced his retirement from international football, leaving the legendary striker without the continental prize his career deserved.

Emmanuel Adebayor is a towering figure in African football, most notably becoming the only Togolese player to ever win the African Footballer of the Year award, which he achieved in 2008.

His club career saw him represent some of the world’s biggest teams, including Arsenal, Real Madrid, Manchester City, and Tottenham Hotspur. Adebayor was known for his physical presence, deceptive speed, and clinical finishing.

His crowning achievement was leading Togo to their first and only FIFA World Cup appearance in 2006, a feat that turned him into a national hero and a continental superstar.

Adebayor’s AFCON history is marked by struggle and the challenges of playing for a smaller footballing nation. He featured in the 2002, 2006, 2013, and 2017 tournaments. His best finish came in 2013, when he led Togo to the quarter-finals for the first time in their history.

However, his international career was also marred by the tragic bus attack in 2010, which led to Togo's withdrawal from that year’s tournament.

Despite his individual brilliance and the pride he brought to Togo, the lack of a strong supporting cast meant that a deep run into the final stages of the AFCON was always an uphill battle for the legendary striker.

Laurent Pokou is a name that commands immense respect in the annals of African football history. Before the era of Samuel Eto’o, the Ivorian striker held the record for the most goals in AFCON history with 14 goals, a record that stood for 38 years.

Known as "L'Homme d'Asmara," Pokou was a prolific goalscorer whose exploits for Rennes in France earned him legendary status in Europe as well. Pelé once famously remarked that if Pokou had been born Brazilian, he would have been one of the greatest in the world.

His ability to find the back of the net was natural and instinctive, making him the premier African striker of the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Despite his individual scoring records, Pokou never won the AFCON title with the Ivory Coast. He participated in the 1968, 1970, 1974, and 1980 tournaments. His best finish was a third-place finish in 1968 and a fourth-place finish in 1970.

In the 1970 tournament, he scored a record-breaking five goals in a single match against Ethiopia, a feat that remains unsurpassed to this day. Although he was the top scorer in two different AFCON editions, the collective glory of the trophy eluded him during an era where the Ivory Coast was still finding its footing.

Kalusha Bwalya is the greatest player in the history of Zambian football and a significant figure in the continental game. He was named African Footballer of the Year in 1988, a year in which he famously scored a hat-trick against Italy in the Olympics.

Bwalya’s career took him to PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands and Club América in Mexico, where he was celebrated for his vision and set-piece mastery.

Perhaps his most heroic contribution was his leadership of the national team following the tragic 1993 plane crash that wiped out the entire Zambian squad. Bwalya, who was not on the flight, rebuilt the team from scratch and led them to the brink of greatness.

Bwalya participated in six AFCON tournaments (1986, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, and 2000). His best finish came in 1994, just a year after the tragedy, when he led a makeshift Zambian team to the final, only to lose 2-1 to a star-studded Nigerian side.

He also secured a third-place finish in 1996, where he finished as the tournament's top scorer. While he eventually won the AFCON as the President of the Football Association of Zambia in 2012, as a player, the gold medal remained a heartbreakingly close distance away, despite his immense personal sacrifices for the Chipolopolo.

Frédéric Kanouté was a striker of immense elegance and clinical efficiency. Born in France but choosing to represent Mali, Kanouté became the first player born outside of Africa to win the African Footballer of the Year award in 2007.

He is most famous for his time at Sevilla, where he won two UEFA Cups and multiple Copa del Rey titles, becoming the club's highest-scoring foreign player at the time. Kanouté was a complete forward, capable of holding up play, linking with midfielders, and finishing with both feet.

His impact on Malian football was transformative, providing a professional blueprint for the next generation of players.

Kanouté played in three AFCON tournaments (2004, 2006, and 2010). His best finish came in his debut tournament in 2004, where he led Mali to a fourth-place finish and ended up as one of the joint-top scorers of the competition.

Despite his individual success and the presence of other stars like Seydou Keita and Mahamadou Diarra, Mali could never quite reach the final.

Kanouté’s international career ended in 2010 following a group-stage exit, leaving the legendary striker with many club honours but no continental trophy for the nation he chose to represent with such pride.

Michael Essien, nicknamed "The Bison," was one of the most complete midfielders of his generation. At his peak with Chelsea and Lyon, he combined relentless energy, tactical intelligence, and a thunderous long-range shot.

He won multiple Premier League titles and the Champions League, establishing himself as a world-class talent. For Ghana, Essien was the engine room that propelled the Black Stars back to global relevance, playing a pivotal role in their first-ever World Cup qualification in 2006.

His dominance in the middle of the park made him a perennial nominee for the African Footballer of the Year award.

Essien’s AFCON career was unfortunately hampered by the recurring knee injuries that eventually shortened his prime. He participated in the 2002, 2008, and 2010 editions. His best finish was a runner-up medal in 2010, though he was forced to leave the tournament early due to injury.

He also earned a third-place finish on home soil in 2008, where he was named in the Team of the Tournament. It remains a great "what if" of African football, whether a fully fit Essien could have pushed Ghana over the line in those tight knockout matches.

His absence from the 2015 squad that reached the final marked the end of an era for a legend who deserved a continental crown.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is one of the most lethal finishers Africa has ever produced. The Gabonese striker made his mark at Borussia Dortmund and Arsenal, winning the Bundesliga Golden Boot and the Premier League Golden Boot.

His incredible pace and composure in front of goal earned him the African Footballer of the Year award in 2015. Like George Weah, Aubameyang faced the challenge of playing for a nation that was not traditionally a powerhouse in African football.

Despite this, he carried the hopes of Gabon for over a decade, often serving as their only world-class outlet.

Aubameyang has featured in five AFCON tournaments (2010, 2012, 2015, 2017, and 2021). His best finish came in 2012, when Gabon co-hosted the tournament and reached the quarter-finals. Aubameyang was the joint-top scorer of that edition, but his tournament ended in heartbreak when he missed the decisive penalty in the shootout against Mali.

In 2017, again as hosts, Gabon suffered the disappointment of a group-stage exit despite Aubameyang’s goals.

His international career has been a story of individual brilliance failing to overcome the limitations of a developing national program, leaving the prolific striker without the international silverware his talent suggests he should have.