Salah, Mané, Mahrez, Aubameyang: Who are Africa's top UEFA Champions League performers?
Wednesday, December 14, 2022
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Which African players have the most appearances and goals in Europe's leading club competition?
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Most appearances by African nationals in the European Champion Clubs' Cup/UEFA Champions League (including qualifying)
94: Didier Drogba (CIV – Marseille, Chelsea, Galatasaray)
89: Mohamed Salah (EGY – Basel, Chelsea, Roma, Liverpool)
82: Samuel Eto'o (CMR – Real Madrid, Mallorca, Barcelona, Inter, Chelsea)
76: Michael Essien (GHA – Lyon, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Milan)
74: Kolo Touré (CIV – Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool, Celtic)
73: Samuel Kuffour (GHA – Bayern)
73: Yaya Touré (CIV – Olympiacos, Barcelona, Manchester City)
72: Emmanuel Eboué (CIV – Arsenal, Galatasaray)
71: Sadio Mané (SEN – Salzburg, Liverpool, Bayern)
66: Seydou Keita (MLI – Marseille, Lens, Sevilla, Barcelona, Roma)
Top-scoring African nationals in the European Champion Clubs' Cup/UEFA Champions League (including qualifying)
48: Mohamed Salah (EGY – Basel, Chelsea, Roma, Liverpool)
44: Didier Drogba (CIV – Marseille, Chelsea, Galatasaray)
33: Samuel Eto'o (CAM – Real Madrid, Mallorca, Barcelona, Inter, Chelsea)
27: Sadio Mané (SEN – Salzburg, Liverpool, Bayern)
20: Riyad Mahrez (ALG – Leicester, Manchester City)
19: Seydou Doumbia (CIV – CSKA Moskva, Basel, Sporting CP)
19: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (GAB – Dortmund, Chelsea, Marseille)
14: Vincent Aboubakar (CAM – Porto, Beşiktaş)
14: Emmanuel Adebayor (TGO – Monaco, Arsenal, Real Madrid, Başakşehir)
14: George Weah (LIB – Monaco, Paris, Milan)
Most appearances by African nationals in UEFA club competition*
118: Mohamed Salah (EGY – Basel, Chelsea, Fiorentina, Roma, Liverpool)
113: Samuel Eto'o (CAM – Real Madrid, Mallorca, Barcelona, Inter, Anji, Chelsea, Everton)
111: Seydou Keita (MLI – Marseille, Lens, Sevilla, Barcelona, Valencia, Roma)
102: Didier Drogba (CIV – Marseille, Chelsea, Galatasaray)
93: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (GAB – LOSC, Dortmund, Arsenal, Chelsea)
91: Yaya Touré (CIV – Metalurh Donetsk, Olympiacos, Barcelona, Manchester City)
90: Samuel Kuffour (GHA – Bayern, Roma, Livorno)
90: Kolo Touré (CIV – Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool, Celtic)
89: Kalidou Koulibaly (SEN – Genk, Napoli, Chelsea)
86: Sadio Mané (SEN – Salzburg, Southampton, Liverpool, Bayern)
Top-scoring African nationals in UEFA club competition*
53: Mohamed Salah (EGY – Basel, Chelsea, Fiorentina, Roma, Liverpool)
50: Didier Drogba (CIV – Marseille, Chelsea, Galatasaray)
48: Samuel Eto'o (CAM – Real Madrid, Mallorca, Barcelona, Inter, Anji, Chelsea, Everton)
44: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (GAB – LOSC, Dortmund, Arsenal, Chelsea)
35: Sadio Mané (SEN – Salzburg, Southampton, Liverpool, Bayern)
35: George Weah (LIB – Monaco, Paris, Milan)
32: Benni McCarthy (RSA – Ajax, Celta, Porto, Blackburn)
31: Frédéric Kanouté (MLI – Lyon, Sevilla)
29: Seydou Doumbia (CIV – Young Boys, CSKA Moskva, Basel, Sporting CP)
26: Emmanuel Adebayor (TGO – Monaco, Arsenal, Manchester City, Real Madrid, Tottenham, Başakşehir)
Notable firsts
First African player to win a UEFA club competition
Derek Smethurst (RSA – Chelsea 3-2agg Real Madrid, 1971 European Cup Winners' Cup)
First African player to feature in a UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League final
Abdelkrim Merry (MAR – Bastia 0-3 PSV, 1978)
First African player to win (or feature) in a European Champion Clubs' Cup final
Bruce Grobbelaar (ZIM – Roma 1-1 Liverpool, aet, Liverpool win 4-2 on penalties, 1983/84)
First African player to score in a European Champion Clubs' Cup final
Rabah Madjer (ALG – Bayern 1-2 Porto, 1986/87)
First African player to win the UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League
Taribo West (NGR – Lazio 0-3 Inter, 1998)
Nation-by-nation: Most appearances by African players in UEFA club competition*
Algeria – 66: Sofiane Feghouli (Valencia, West Ham, Galatasaray)
Angola – 20: Bastos (Rostov, Lazio)
Benin – 18: Babatounde Bello (Žilina)
Botswana – NONE
Burkina Faso – 72: Charles Kaboré (Marseille, Krasnodar, Dinamo Moskva)
Burundi – 14: Gaël Bigirimana (Newcastle, Glentoran)
Cameroon – 113: Samuel Eto'o (Real Madrid, Mallorca, Barcelona, Inter, Anji, Chelsea, Everton)
Cape Verde – 51: Stopira (Fehérvár)
Central African Republic – 25: Foxi Kéthévoama (Újpest, Kecskemét, Astana)
Chad – 23: Japhet N'Doram (Nantes, Monaco)
Comoros – 57: Ben (Crvena zvezda)
DR Congo – 61: Dieudonné Mbokani (Anderlecht, Standard Liège, Dynamo Kyiv, Antwerp)
Republic of Congo – 44: Boli Bolingoli-Mbombo (Club Brugge, Rapid Wien, Celtic, Başakşehir)
Djibouti – NONE
Egypt – 118: Mohamed Salah (Basel, Chelsea, Fiorentina, Roma, Liverpool)
Equatorial Guinea – 8: Juvenal Edjogo-Owono (Racing Santander, FC Santa Coloma)
Eritrea – 29: Henok Goitom (AIK Solna)
Eswatini – NONE
Ethiopia – 1: Beneyam Demte (Skënderbeu)
Gabon – 93: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (LOSC Lille, Dortmund, Arsenal, Chelsea)
Gambia – 38: Demba Savage (Honka, HJK Helsinki, Häcken)
Ghana – 90: Samuel Kuffour (Bayern, Roma, Livorno)
Guinea – 57: Mady Camara (Olympiacos, Roma)
Guinea-Bissau – 49: Amadou Diawara (Napoli, Roma, Anderlecht)
Ivory Coast – 102: Didier Drogba (Marseille, Chelsea, Galatasaray)
Kenya – 33: Victor Wanyama (Celtic, Tottenham)
Lesotho – NONE
Liberia – 62: George Weah (Monaco, Paris, Milan)
Libya – 30: Ali Musrati (Vitória Guimarães, Braga)
Madagascar – 61: Anicet Abel (CSKA Sofia, Botev Plovdiv, Ludogorets)
Malawi – 8: Charles Petro (Sheriff)
Mali – 111: Seydou Keita (Marseille, Lens, Sevilla, Barcelona, Valencia, Roma)
Mauritania – NONE
Mauritius – 4: Diallo Guidileye (AEL Limassol)
Morocco – 74: Hakim Ziyech (Heerenveen, Twente, Ajax, Chelsea)
Mozambique – 35: Simão (Panathinaikos)
Namibia – 31: Collin Benjamin (Hamburg)
Niger – 24: Ali Mohamed (Beitar Jerusalem, Maccabi Haifa)
Nigeria – 81: Nwankwo Kanu (Ajax, Inter, Arsenal, Portsmouth)
Rwanda – 37: Mohamed Tchité (Standard Liège, Anderlecht, Racing Santander, Club Brugge)
São Tomé and Principe – NONE
Senegal – 89: Kalidou Koulibaly (Genk, Napoli, Chelsea)
Seychelles – NONE
Sierra Leone – 33: Mohamed Kamara (HJK Helsinki, Partizan)
Somalia – 8: Liban Abdi (Ferencváros, Haugesund)
South Africa – 77: Benni McCarthy (Ajax, Celta Vigo, Porto, Blackburn)
South Sudan – NONE
Sudan – NONE
Tanzania – 42: Mbwana Samatta (Genk, Antwerp)
Togo – 82: Emmanuel Adebayor (Monaco, Arsenal, Man. City, Real Madrid, Tottenham, Başakşehir)
Tunisia – 43: Karim Haggui (Strasbourg, Leverkusen, Hannover)
Uganda – 46: Ibrahim Sekagya (Salzburg)
Zambia – 36: Patson Daka (Salzburg, Leicester)
Zimbabwe – 41: Costa Nhamoinesu (Sparta Praha)
*UEFA club competitions means European Champion Clubs' Cup/UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League, UEFA Europa Conference League, European/South American Cup, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, UEFA Super Cup and UEFA Intertoto Cup