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Many African players have graced the Ligue 1 over the years, with some of them turning out to be prolific scorers in the competition.
It has been a long and fruitful association between the Ligue 1 and players from Africa, with the latter also going on to find success in the other top leagues across Europe.
On that note, let's take a look at the five highest African goal-scorers in Ligue 1 history:
#5 Toifilou Maoulida (Comoros) - 71 Ligue 1 goals
Toifilou Maoulida belongs to the rare group of talented footballers who never played international football despite being eligible for not one but two countries.
The forward retired in 2017 after a career spanning exactly two decades, all of which came in the French leagues with as many as 11 different sides.
Maoulida spent most of his years in the Ligue 1, scoring 71 goals, doing so mostly for Montpellier, his first professional side, and Lens. He also chipping in with 16 assists.
Despite playing for such a long time in French football, Maoulida's only piece of silverware was the UEFA Intertoto Cup with Montpellier in 1999.
#4 Japhet N'Doram (Chad) - 73 Ligue 1 goals
Rarely do we see a player from Chad making the cut in any of Europe's top-five leagues. That is mostly due to the country's relatively modest footballing stature and general lack of talented players.
In fact, the last such player from Les Sao to ply his trade in an elite European league was Japhet N'Doram, who is a legendary figure at Nantes, where he played for seven years in the 90s.
He was nicknamed 'The Wizard' for his ability to successfully operate from multiple positions, especially in attack.
Japhet N'Doram is the club's all-time top-scorer, both in Ligue 1 and in all competitions, netting 72 goals for them. He scored only one Ligue 1 goal for AS Monaco in his lone season at the club in 1997/98, which happened to be the last of his 14-season professional career.
#3 George Weah (Liberia) - 83 Ligue 1 goals
It speaks volumes about a player's quality when he features among the most prolific scorers from his continent in two of Europe's top five leagues. One such player is George Weah, who is the top African goal-scorer in Serie A.
But long before he joined the Italian top flight, the former Liberian ace was making a case for himself in France's Ligue 1. He joined AS Monaco in 1988 after some promising displays with various African teams.
His career then took off in an upward trajectory, spending an impressive four years with the Monegasques before moving to Paris Saint-Germain in 1992. Weah's exploits at the Ligue 1 giants convinced Milan to prise him away to the San Siro.
Before that, Weah scored 79 Ligue 1 goals for two teams. He returned to the Ligue 1, where he netted five times for Marseille in 2000, in what turned out to his last season as a professional.
#2 Shabani Nonda (DR Congo) - 88 Ligue 1 goals
Congo's last football superstar, Shabani Nonda is referred by Ligue 1 as 'the diamond of Africa'; he enjoyed seven glorious years in the division.
The striker carved a niche for himself at Stade Rennais after joining them in 1998, scoring 15 Ligue 1 goals in his first season before going one better in the next.
His blistering exploits caught Monaco's attention, and they soon came calling for his services, signing him for a then-club-record fee of €20 million in 2000.
Nonda went on to elevate his game further with his new side, winning the Ligue 1 top-scorer award in 2003 for netting 26 goals and also featuring in the Ligue 1 team of the season too.
#1 Mamadou Niang (Senegal) - 100 Ligue 1 goals
One of Senegal's finest players of all time, Mamadou Niang is a legendary name in Ligue 1, who plied his trade for a decade in France's top football division.
His time with Troyes and Strasbourg in the early noughties made him a highly sought-after youngster before Niang realised his full potential with Marseille, whom he joined in 2005.
The next five years were full of accolades and silverware for him. Niang lifted the domestic double of Ligue 1 and French League Cup in 2010 to go with his domestic Golden Boot that season.
Niang also scored 71 Ligue 1 goals from 155 games during this period, with another 29 coming later. His record of 100 Ligue 1 strikes stands unmatched by any African player 11 years after he left the scene.
