AFCON Top Scorers | All-Time Scorers + AFCON 2024 Top Scorer Predictions!

AFCON top scorers are one of the AFCON betting factors and you can wager on when placing your Africa Cup of Nations bets. Check this guide to find out all you need to know about predicting the top scorers in the forthcoming edition.

Top 10 AFCON Top Scorers

Due to their goal-scoring exploits, captivating performances, etc., many players have etched their names in the Africa Cup of Nations’ history and the hearts of many African fans. This article section covers the top 10 scorers in the competition’s history.

Samuel Eto’o

With 18 goals in 29 AFCON appearances, Samuel Eto’o Fils holds the record for most goals scored in AFCON history.

He has competed in six AFCON tournaments, and in 2006 and 2008, he won back-to-back top scorer awards. He is also the current president of the Cameroonian Football Federation.

After playing for top teams like FC Barcelona, Inter Milan, and Chelsea, Eto’o is recognised as one of the greatest African players of all time and among the best strikers in football history. He won the African Player of the Year a record four times in 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2010.

He is Cameroon’s all-time leading scorer with 56 goals in 118 appearances, and he was part of the Cameroon squads that won the AFCON title in 2000 and 2002.

Laurent Pokou

The late Ivorian striker is the second AFCON all-time top scorer with 14 goals in just 13 appearances across four AFCON tournaments. Like Eto’o, Pokou was twice the AFCON top scorer, scoring six goals in 1968 and eight in the 1970 edition, including five in one match against Ethiopia, which Ivory Coast won 6–1.

Rashidi Yekini

Rashidi Yekini, the late Nigerian striker, scored 13 goals in 24 AFCON games to rank third all-time in AFCON goals scored. He helped Nigeria win the 1994 AFCON, where he won both the top scorer and the best player of the competition awards.

Yekini is Nigeria’s all-time leading scorer with 37 goals in 62 appearances and was voted the African Footballer of the Year in 1993. He was selected for two World Cup squads (1994 and 1998), and in the 3-0 victory over Bulgaria in 1994, he scored Nigeria’s first-ever World Cup goal.

Hassan El-Shazly

Hassan El-Shazly is the fourth leading scorer in AFCON history with 12 goals in 10 appearances. Among the top 10 all-time scorers at the AFCON, El-Shazly has the best goal-per-game ratio with 1.2.

Like Yekini, he was named the best player and top scorer of the 1963 AFCON with six goals. He is among Egypt’s highest scorers, with 42 goals in 62 international games.

Didier Drogba

Popularly known for his late equaliser and game-winning penalty for Chelsea in the penalty-shootout victory against Bayern Munich in the 2012 Champions League final, Drogba is a football legend. He ranks fifth among AFCON all-time scorers with 11 goals in 24 appearances.

Sadly, Drogba didn’t win an AFCN tournament, despite coming close in 2006 and 2012 when Ivory Coast lost to Egypt and Zambia in the finals, respectively, on penalties. He is Ivory Coast’s all-time leading goal scorer with 65 goals in 105 appearances.

Hossam Hassan

Hossam Hassan had 11 goals in 21 AFCON appearances, which ranks him joint-fifth all-time in AFCON scoring. He is regarded as one of the best players in Egyptian and African football history and is the fifteenth most capped player in men’s international football.

At 39 years and 174 days, Hossam Hassan is the oldest player to score a goal in AFCON history, scoring Egypt’s second goal in a 4-1 quarterfinal win over DR Congo in 2006.

He is Egypt’s all-time top scorer with 68 goals in 176 appearances. Hassan made seven Egypt AFCON squads ( 1986, 1988, 1992, 1998, 2000, 2002 and 2006), an all-time Egyptian record and was part of the Egypt teams that won the 1986, 1998, and 2006 AFCON championships.

He was the joint-top scorer in the 1998 AFCON, with Benni McCarthy with seven goals each.

Patrick M’Boma

With 11 goals in 17 AFCON appearances, the former Cameroonian forward is tied for fifth place all-time with Didier Drogba and Hossam Hassan. Mboma was part of the Cameroon team that won the AFCON in 2000 and 2002 and was voted the African Footballer of the Year in 2000.

He was also part of the Cameroon football team that won the gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. With four goals, he was the joint-top scorer in the 2004 AFCON with Jay-Jay Okocha, Francileudo Dos Santos, and Frederic Kanoute.

Kalusha Bwalya

Bwalya is the sixth leading scorer in AFCON history with ten goals in 23 appearances. The Zambian forward, Kalusha, was named African Footballer of the Year in 1988.

He was also a 1996 World Player of the Year nominee, finishing in 12th place overall.

Bwalya was the first African player to be nominated for the Best Player of the Year award while playing for a non-European club. He is the third Zambian all-time goal scorer behind Godfrey Chitalu and Alex Chola with 39 goals in 87 appearances.

Francileudo Dos Santos

The Brazilian-born Tunisian striker is the joint-sixth leading scorer in AFCON history, with ten goals in just 12 appearances.

He won the AFCON title in 2004 in just his first AFCON outing and was the joint-top scorer alongside Jay-Jay Okocha, Patrick Mboma and Frederic Kanoute with four goals each. He scored 22 goals in 41 appearances for Tunisia.

Andre Ayew

With ten goals in 34 appearances, Andre Ayew, the only active player on this list, is tied for sixth place all-time in AFCON goals scored with Francileudo Dos Santos and Kalusha Bwalya. He has made seven AFCON squads and is the current captain of the Ghanaian national team.

Like Didier Drogba, he has never won an AFCON championship, losing to Egypt and Ivory Coast in the finals in 2010 and 2015, respectively. In 2011, he was named Ghanaian Footballer of the Year and BBC African Footballer of the Year. He has scored 24 goals in 113 senior appearances for Ghana and is one of the most capped players in Ghanaian history.

AFCON Top Scorers Predictions for 2024

To help you in your AFCON predictions, here’s a list of three players to watch for to be the top scorers in the forthcoming Africa Cup of Nations edition.

Victor Osimhen

The Nigerian striker is one of the hottest strikers in world football and has been linked with a big-money move to European juggernauts like Manchester United, Chelsea and Real Madrid. Osimhen plays for Napoli and is the current top scorer in Serie A with 21 goals in 23 games as of the time of this guide.

In 2015, he won the CAF Youth Player of the Year and the U-17 World Cup Golden Boot awards. However, he suffered a facial injury while playing for Napoli, which prevented him from making the Nigerian team for the AFCON 2021.

At just 24 years, he is already Nigeria’s ninth-all-time leading scorer with 15 goals in 24 senior appearances and is a player to watch out for in AFCON 2023.

Mohammed Salah

The Liverpool marksman is one of the best players in the world and has won many honours, including the UEFA Champions League and the English Premier League.

The AFCON title is arguably the most significant title still eluding him, having lost in the finals in both the 2017 and 2021 editions to Cameroon and Senegal, respectively. Now the Egyptian national team captain, he’ll give everything he has to make it a third time lucky if they make it to the finals in the forthcoming AFCON edition.

Sadio Mane

The Bayern Munich forward is another player to watch out for in the AFCON 2023 and will most certainly finish among the top scorers. Mane scored the game-winning penalty in the penalty shootout victory over Egypt in the 2021 edition, which helped Senegal win its first-ever AFCON title.

He will be out to prove their triumph in the previous edition is not a one-off and will try to repeat the trick in AFCON 2023.

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AFCON Top Scorers FAQs

Here are some frequently asked questions to help you further understand how AFCON top scorers work.