The FIFA World Cup is football’s biggest competition in which a lot of players around the globe dream of participating.
However, with a space of 4 years between each tournament, not many players have many opportunities to play at a single World Cup not talk of of two editions.
For a long time, Africa had to manage a single World Cup slot before it was increased to 5 slots.
African teams have not been able to go past the quarterfinals at the World Cup, but some players from the continents have left their mark within a short period of opportunity. Here are the 5 Greatest African football players at the FIFA World Cup.
1. Roger Milla
The Cameroonian becomes the first point of any legendary World Cup performance by any African Player.
The striker played in three World Cups editions for the Indomitable Lions, but his most memorable one was the 1994 edition, where he became the oldest goalscorer with four goals to his name.
His four goals led Cameroon to the first African country to reach the quarterfinals of the competition.
Who will forget his memorable dancing with the corner flag celebrations in 1990? He also managed to score again, breaking his own record at age 42. He has five goals in total at the world cup.
2. Asamoah Gyan
If others forget Asamoah Gyan, Ghanaians will not forget the man who hit the target six times across three different World Cups.
He played his first and Ghana’s debut at the Mundial in Germany at the 2006 FIFA World Cup. There, he scored in a 2-0 win over the Czech Republic.
He almost led Ghana to a historic semi-final place in South Africa in 2010 until Luis Suarez’s handball, and his subsequent penalty miss.
Gyan would go on to play at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, where he broke Milla’s record as the highest-scoring African at the World Cup with six goals in total.
3. Ahmed Musa
Nigerian Forward Ahmed Musa seemed to be made for the World Cup; it’s pretty simple, he’s the country’s highest goalscorer at the World Cup with four goals.
He’s played at just two editions, the 2014 and the 2018 editions, but on both occasions, he led some of Nigeria’s finest performances on the World stage.
His first distinct was the 3-2 loss to Argentina in 2014, where he went toe to toe with Lionel Messi, scoring a brace as the Argentines did.
In 2018, his best performance was against Iceland, where he scored a brace as well. Undoubtedly one of the most underrated African footballers, Musa made his at the biggest stage in football.
4. Vincent Enyeama
The Nigerian goalkeeper played at the 2002 World Cup, 2010 World Cup, and also at the 2014 FIFA World Cups.
At the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, Vincent Enyeama was the biggest positive of a very disappointing Nigerian squad.
The goalkeeper denied Lionel Messi a goal in the opening game, which the Eagles lost by one goal to nil. Nonetheless, his performances as a goalkeeper is one that remains among the very best of all the goalkeepers’ performances at the FIFA World Cup.
5. Rabah Madjer
Rabah Madjer is one of the greatest African football legends. led Algeria to there first World Cup qualification in 1982. In that tournament, he scored for Algeria in one of the most iconic victories at the FIFA World Cup in the 1982 World Cup in a 2-1 win over Germany.
He also played at the 1986 World Cup, and also retired as his country’s record goalscorer.
