Last week, Carragher made a derogatory statement about the African Cup of Nations, stating that it is not a major tournament.
The statement was made based on his opinion of Mohamed Salah winning the Ballon d'Or award following his impressive performance for Liverpool this season.
Following his comment, the former England defender received backlash from past AFCON winners, African players and legends of the game.
Joey Barton compares African defender to Carragher
Barton has questioned the quality of African defenders both past and present, claiming that they are not better than Carragher.
The former Man City midfielder said, as reported by OneJoblessBoy on X, “Can anybody out there, as much as all the Afrikanos have had a pop at Carragher for saying what he said.
“There's no better defender come from Africa than Jamie Carragher. Africa have never produced a better defender than Jamie Carragher.
“Name me a better defender, can anybody name me a better African defender. Kolo Toure is not better than Carragher
“If I said to you, can have one in your team, bear in mind Carragher played at right back. Again, we're going through this great continent that's produced phenomenal talent and deserves to be taken seriously as a major tournament. Well, you can't name me one defender.”
“Has Africa ever produced a better defender than Jamie Carragher?”
— @𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗷𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗯𝗼𝘆 (@OneJoblessBoy) March 6, 2025
— Joey Barton pic.twitter.com/roua6rckDv
Despite the likes of Kolo Toure, Koulibaly and other defenders from Africa proving their worth in Europe, Barton still insists that they are not better than Carragher.