Top 5 African footballers of the past 20 years (1998-2018)

Like other continents of the world, Africa has been consistently impacting the world of sports with amazing athletes. For so many years, we have witnessed some great African footballers take our breath away.

Starting from street soccer, inter-community competitions and local tournaments, to national competitions and international recognition, Africa has served as a platform of development for some of the biggest names in football.

With so many talents and so many contributions to the sport of football, the greatness of African footballers cannot be overlooked. Africa produced some of the finest footballers we ever had in the last 20 years. Let us take a look at the top 5 African players in the past 20 years:

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#5 Yaya Touré (Ivory Coast)

Yaya Toure has had an extremely successful club career

Yaya Touré is one of the most versatile African soccer stars to ever play the game. Touré frequently changes from attacking to defensive roles and plays numerous midfield positions. He has an effective striking ability, often scoring goals from afar.

Born in 1983, Toure currently plays for Manchester City and the Ivory Coast national team. He has played in 6 African Cup of Nations tournaments, finally winning the trophy in 2015.

Touré has won the African Footballer of the Year award for four consecutive years (2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014) - an amazing achievement in his career.

At Manchester City, Toure became indispensable and was a vital cog in Roberto Mancini's side that claimed the Premier League in 2014. He created balance and defensive stability in the team as he dropped deep in the middle with exceptional tackles and interceptions.

He also helped in the attack, creating chances and scoring vital goals. He scored the winner in the 2011 FA Cup final against Stoke City and was pivotal in the 6-1 thrashing of Manchester United in 2012. The Ivorian had been one of Manchester City's most capped players.

#4 Jay-Jay Okocha (Nigeria)

Jay-Jay Okocha was an absolute joy to watch on the football pitch

Jay-Jay Okocha is the most skillful Nigerian footballer ever. In fact, Nigeria labeled him the Nigerian Player of the Year, for an incredible7 times (1995, 1997, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005). Other awards are the FIFA 100, 2003 and 2004, BBC African Player of the Year, November 2003 EPL Player of the Month, and 2005 Bolton Wanderers Player of the Year.

Okocha also starred on the 1998 FIFA World Cup All-Star Team, in the 1994 African Cup of Nations, 1995 Afro-Asian Cup of Nations, and 1996 Olympics to mention just a few of his many championship appearances.

The statistics do not really sum up his fantastic ability. It was a privilege to watch the Super Eagles star. At his peak, Okocha was one of the most entertaining footballers on the planet. His skills, amazing dribbles, and flair on the ball brings him in the same circle with Ronaldinho as two of the most entertaining footballers of their generation.

Although a midfielder, Okocha scored 85 goals in his career out of 454 appearances and 15 goals out of his 75 national team appearances. Okocha is known for his dribbling skills and spectacular goals. His vision and passing were a joy to watch.

Okocha never won the African Player of Year award, becoming arguably the best player never to win the award despite coming second twice in 1998. He did, however, win the inaugural BBC African Footballer of the Year and the successive one, becoming the only player to retain the award and win it more than once.

He won the Trophée des Champions and UEFA Intertoto Cup with Paris Saint Germain and also secured the Chancellor Cup and Atatürk Cup with Fenerbache alongside many other achievements.

#3 Didier Drogba (Chelsea)

Didier Drogba is one of Chelsea's greatest players of all time

Didier Drogba is an Ivory Coast player well recognized for his physicality, excellent positioning and the ability to score goals. Drogba has a long list of achievements in his career including 2 African Player of the Year awards (2006 and 2009), 3 English Premier League titles, 3 FA Cup titles, 2 Carling Cup titles, 2 Community Shield titles, Süper Lig title, Champions League, and even the Turkish Cup.

Though best known for his time with Chelsea, where he was voted as the club’s “greatest footballer ever,” Drogba was also the captain of the Ivory Coast national team — and is the all-time top scorer of the National team with 65 goals from 104 appearances.

However, he will be best remembered for his time with the London outfit, where he inspired them to win multiple trophies. The most notable moment of his club career came in 2012 when he secured his name in the history books by leading the club to their first ever Champions League trophy in Munich.

#2 Nwankwo Kanu (Nigeria)

Nwankwo Kanu had a long and successful career

He was born in 1976, Nwankwo Kanu possesses a long list of championship titles and awards to his name including an Olympic gold medal, 2 African Footballer of the Year awards, one UEFA Champions League medal, and 3 FA Cup Winners medals to mention just a few.

In the course of his 20-year career, Kanu played for numerous clubs including FC Heartland, Portsmouth FC, Arsenal FC, AFC Ajax, West Brom, and Inter. He played in 3 FIFA World Cups and 5 Africa Nations Cups. If you look at his stats, and you’ll see that he’s arguably one of the greatest African players to ever play the game.

Like many other African greats, Kanu wrote his name in the history books with his superb performances across Europe. He is one of the few Africans who has won the UEFA Champions League. He also has Premier League titles to his name and was a vital member of Arsenal's invincibles that won the Premier with an amazing unbeaten record during the 2003-2004 season.

He was a very lethal attacker and a real threat in opposition boxes. His ability to change the game at any time cannot be overlooked. Nwankwo Kanu scored an astonishing second-half hat-trick as the Gunners came from behind to inflict a memorable defeat on their arch-rivals, Chelsea in 1999. That match is regarded as one of his best in his entire career.

Off the field, Kanu has done a lot for his country. After undergoing surgery for a potentially fatal heart defect, he opened the Kanu Heart Foundation, to help young African children with heart diseases and homeless children.

The Kanu Heart Foundation has assisted more than 400 kids to receive life-saving heart surgeries. Kanu is also UNICEF's Goodwill Ambassador. Though Kanu retired from the game of soccer, he continues helping Nigeria as a philanthropist.

#1 Samuel Eto'o (Cameroon)

Samuel Eto'o rewrote the history books at Barcelona

Born in 1981, Cameroon International Samuel Eto’o is a four-time winner of the African Player of the Year award. In 2011, he also held the status of being the highest paid footballer

In his teenage years, Eto’o longed to sign with a French football club but was turned down because of his age. Still a teen, he joined Real Madrid’s youth academy in 1997 where he was loaned out to many Spanish clubs. He joined the national team, helping the team to win the gold medal at the 2000 Olympics and 2 African Cup of Nations trophies in 2000 and 2002.

Eto’o joined Spanish club RCD Mallorca, and became Mallorca’s all-time leading domestic league scorer and earned 3 African Footballer of the Year awards in a row. In 2010, he won his fourth African Footballer of the Year award — a record.

He joined Spanish team, Barcelona in 2004 and took the world by storm with his blistering performances. During his peak, he was La Liga's best striker and scored an impressive 131 goals for the Catalan giants. He won the Pichichi, 2 UEFA Champions League trophies and was part of the great Barca side that secured a historic treble in 2009.

Eto’o is known for being a prolific striker and a major force in the sport. He is also known for receiving one of the highest soccer salaries in the world. Having been successful at huge clubs like Barcelona, Inter Milan, and Chelsea, Eto'o is arguably the best African footballer of the last 20 years.