The only two African footballers in history to make the Ballon d’Or podium
Mohamed Salah, Didier Drogba, Yaya Toure and Samuel Eto’o are among the legendary African footballers who have never made it onto the podium for the Ballon d’Or.
Jamie Carragher has come under heavy criticism in recent days, having been perceived to have disrespected the Africa Cup of Nations by stating that Salah’s Ballon d’Or chances over the years have been diminished by him not playing in a “major tournament”.
But there is an undeniable, unfortunate truth to Carragher’s words – achievements at the AFCON are seldom recognised when it comes to Ballon d’Or voting.
For example, Ivory Coast won the most recent Cup Of Nations in 2023. No Ivorian player made the 30-man Ballon d’Or shortlist, while the only African was Ademola Lookman.
Lookman did score three goals for Nigeria as they finished runners-up at last year’s AFCON, but his place on the shortlist was likely more down to his achievements at club level, chiefly his hat-trick he scored in Atalanta’s Europa League final victory.
Super Eagles defender William Troost-Ekong was named Player of the Tournament at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations but he never made it onto the Ballon d’Or shortlist, while Rodri – Euro 2024’s Player of the Tournament – picked up the award.
To be fair, there was also quite a discrepancy with the levels and achievements of Rodri and Troost-Ekong at club level. James Rodriguez was deservedly named the best player at last summer’s Copa America, but he also failed to make the Ballon d’Or shortlist after another distinctly underwhelming year in club football.
Who are the African footballers who have had their achievements recognised with a placing in the Ballon d’Or top three? There are only two:
George Weah
For the first forty years of its existence, the Ballon d’Or was widely known as the European Footballer of the Year award. Which explains why like Diego Maradona and Pele never won it.
In 1995, organisers France Football expanded the Ballon d’Or include all players of any origin that have been active at European clubs (before going fully global in 2007). That year the award was picked up by Liberia legend George Weah, back then at the peak of his powers at AC Milan.
His wonder goal against Verona came later, frankly taking the p*ss whilst he was the Ballon d’Or holder, but it was illustrative of his world-class reputation. In the 1994-95 season, his last at PSG before moving to Milan, he scored a relatively unspectacular tally of 18 goals in all competitions.
But those goals invariably tended to be spectacular, including an extraordinary match-winning solo effort away to Bayern Munich. He was PSG’s biggest star in their memorable run to the Champions League semi-finals, a role that earned him the move to Milan.
“We are talking about one of the world’s greatest strikers,” Thierry Henry said of Weah back in 2014.
“He wasn’t playing with a great national team. Less impact but I’m telling you, raw power, sheer power, technique and speed. I’ve never seen that. When he was moving on the field, I was moving at home too, the stadium was moving.”
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Sadio Mane
Jay-Jay Okocha, Lucas Radebe, Lauren, Samuel Eto’o and Didier Drogba are among the big names who have produced brilliant performances at AFCON over the years, but Mane was the first to truly be recognised by the Ballon d’Or voters.
Mane played a talismanic role in Senegal’s first-ever AFCON triumph in Cameroon in 2021. He was named Player of the Tournament and lashed home the decisive penalty as the Lions of Teranga defeated Egypt in the final’s shootout.
His former Liverpool team-mate Salah might have instead have taken Mane’s place on the Ballon d’Or podium had Egypt come out on top that night. Perplexingly, the Egypt captain never stepped up in the shootout, having been designated for a fifth penalty that never came.
Mane ended up finishing runner-up to Karim Benzema, of Algerian descent himself, after his outrageous Champions League heroics in 2021-22.
The Senegal international didn’t have a bad final season at Liverpool himself, scoring 23 goals in a memorable quadruple chase – Jurgen Klopp’s Reds ended up winning the League Cup and FA Cup but lost out on the Premier League title on 92 points before succumbing to a narrow 1-0 defeat to Benzema’s Real Madrid in the Champions League final.
He was also Lionel Messi’s pick for FIFA’s ‘The Best’ award in 2019.