African Player of the Year

By Ben Jardine · 1 min read

African Player of the Year 1970-2022

Full details of the African Player of the Year from 1970 to 2021 including France Football African Player of the Year from 1970 to 1994 and CAF Player of the Year from 1992 to 2022. Includes club affiliations.

France Football African Player of the Year (1970–1993) & CAF African Player of the Year (1993–Present)

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Year	Place	Player	Nationality		Club
1970	1st	Salif Keïta		Mali	AS Saint-Etienne
	2nd	Laurent Pokou		Côte d'Ivoire	ASEC Abidjan
	3rd	Ali Abugreisha		Egypt	Ismaily SC
1971	1st	Ibrahim Sunday		Ghana	Asante Kotoko
	2nd	Robert Mensah		Ghana	Asante Kotoko
	3rd	François Ndoumbé		Cameroon	Canon Yaounde
1972	1st	Cherif Souleymane		Guinea	Hafia Conakry
	2nd	Tshimen Bwanga		Zaire	TP Mazembe
	3rd	Petit Sory		Guinea	Hafia Conakry
1973	1st	Tshimen Bwanga		Zaire	TP Mazembe
	2nd	Mwamba Kazadi		Zaire	TP Mazembe
	3rd	Laurent Pokou		Côte d'Ivoire	ASEC Abidjan
1974	1st	Paul Moukila		PR Congo	CARA Brazzaville
	2nd	Boba Lobilo		Zaire	AS Vita Kinshasa
	3rd	Hassan Shehata		Egypt	El Zamalek
1994	1st	George Weah		Liberia	Paris Saint-Germain
	2nd	Emmanuel Amunike		Nigeria	Sporting CP / El Zamalek
	3rd	Daniel Amokachi		Nigeria	Everton / Club Brugge
1975	1st	Ahmed Faras		Morocco	Chabab Mohammédia
	2nd	Roger Milla		Cameroon	Tonnerre Yaoundé
		N'Jolea		Guinea	Hafia Conakry
1976	1st	Roger Milla		Cameroon	Tonnerre Yaoundé
	2nd	Papa Camara		Guinea	Hafia Conakry
	3rd	Ali Bencheikh		Algeria	MC Alger
1977	1st	Tarak Dhiab		Tunisia	Espérance Tunis
	2nd	Papa Camara		Guinea	Hafia Conakry
	3rd	Segun Odegbami		Nigeria	Shooting Stars
1978	1st	Karim Abdul Razak		Ghana	Asante Kotoko
	2nd	Ali Bencheikh		Algeria	MC Alger
	3rd	Thomas N'kono		Cameroon	Canon Yaounde
1979	1st	Thomas Nkono		Cameroon	Canon Yaoundé
	2nd	Adolf Armah		Ghana	Hearts of Oak
	3rd	Kerfalla Bangoura		Guinea	Horoya Conakry
1980	1st	Jean Manga-Onguene		Cameroon	Canon Yaounde
	2nd	Segun Odegbami		Nigeria	Shooting Stars
	3rd	Théophile Abega		Cameroon	Canon Yaounde
1981	1st	Lakhdar Belloumi		Algeria	GC Mascara
	2nd	Thomas N'kono		Cameroon	Canon Yaounde
	3rd	Ali Fergani		Algeria	Montpellier HSC / JS Kabylie
1982	1st	Thomas N'kono		Cameroon	Espanyol
	2nd	Salah Assad		Algeria	Mulhouse
	3rd	Lakhdar Belloumi		Algeria	GC Mascara
1983	1st	Mahmoud Al-Khatib		Egypt	Al-Ahly
	2nd	Opoku Nti		Ghana	Asante Kotoko
	3rd	Rafiou Moutairou		Togo	OC Agaza Lome
1984	1st	Théophile Abega		Cameroon	Toulouse
	2nd	Joseph-Antoine Bell		Cameroon	Al-Mokawloon al-Arab
		Ibrahim Youssef		Egypt	El Zamalek
1985	1st	Mohammed Timoumi		Morocco	FAR Rabat
	2nd	Rabah Madjer		Algeria	Porto
	3rd	Djamel Menad		Algeria	JS Kabylie
		Ibrahim Youssef		Egypt	El Zamalek
1986	1st	Badou Zaki		Morocco	Mallorca
	2nd	Aziz Bouderbala		Morocco	Sion
	3rd	Roger Milla		Cameroon	Montpellier / Saint-Étienne
1987	1st	Rabah Madjer		Algeria	Porto
	2nd	Youssouf Fofana		Côte d'Ivoire	Monaco
	3rd	Francois Oman-Biyik		Cameroon	Stade Laval
1988	1st	Kalusha Bwalya		Zambia	Cercle Brugge
	2nd	Roger Milla		Cameroon	Montpellier
	3rd	Youssouf Fofana		Côte d'Ivoire	Monaco
1989	1st	George Weah		Liberia	Monaco
	2nd	Joseph-Antoine Bell		Cameroon	Bordeaux / Toulon
	3rd	Kalusha Bwalya		Zambia	PSV Eindhoven
1990	1st	Roger Milla		Cameroon	Saint-Denis
	2nd	Tahar Cherif El-Ouazani		Algeria	MC Oran / Aydınspor
	3rd	Rabah Madjer		Algeria	Porto
		Francois Oman-Biyik		Cameroon	Stade Laval
1991	1st	Abedi Pele		Ghana	Marseille
	2nd	George Weah		Liberia	Monaco
	3rd	Francois Oman-Biyik		Cameroon	Cannes
1992	1st	Abedi Pele		Ghana	Marseille
	2nd	George Weah		Liberia	Paris Saint-Germain / Monaco
	3rd	Anthony Yeboah		Ghana	Eintracht Frankfurt
1993	1st	Abedi Pele		Ghana	Marseille
	2nd	Anthony Yeboah		Ghana	Eintracht Frankfurt
	3rd	Rashidi Yekini		Nigeria	Vitória de Setúbal
CAF African Player of the Year (1993–Present)
Year	Place	Player	Nationality
1993	1st	Abedi Pele		Ghana	Marseille
	2nd	Rashidi Yekini		Liberia	Monaco
	3rd	Tony Yeboah		Cameroon	Cannes
1994	1st	Emmanuel Amunike		Nigeria	Sporting CP / El Zamalek
	2nd	George Weah		Liberia	Paris Saint-Germain
		Rashidi Yekini		Nigeria	Olympiacos / Vitória de Setúbal
1995	1st	George Weah		Liberia	Milan / Paris Saint-Germain
	2nd	Emmanuel Amunike		Nigeria	Sporting CP
	3rd	Daniel Amokachi		Nigeria	Everton
1996	1st	Nwankwo Kanu		Nigeria	Ajax / Internazionale
	2nd	George Weah		Liberia	Milan
	3rd	Daniel Amokachi		Nigeria	Beşiktaş / Everton
1997	1st	Victor Ikpeba		Nigeria	Monaco
	2nd	Japhet N'Doram		Chad	Monaco / Nantes
	3rd	Taribo West		Nigeria	Internazionale / Auxerre
1998	1st	Mustapha Hadji		Morocco	Deportivo La Coruña
	2nd	Jay-Jay Okocha		Nigeria	Paris Saint-Germain / Fenerbahçe
	3rd	Sunday Oliseh		Nigeria	Ajax
1999	1st	Nwankwo Kanu		Nigeria	Arsenal
	2nd	Samuel Kuffour		Ghana	Bayern Munich

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African Player of the Year Winners

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No	Player	Nationality
4	Samuel Eto'o		Cameroon
4	Yaya Touré		Côte d'Ivoire
3	Abedi Pele		Ghana
3	George Weah		Liberia
2	Didier Drogba		Côte d'Ivoire
2	El Hadji Diouf		Senegal
2	Nwankwo Kanu		Nigeria
2	Roger Milla		Cameroon
2	Sadio Mané		Senegal
2	Thomas Nkono		Cameroon
1	Ahmed Faras		Morocco
1	Badou Zaki		Morocco
1	Cherif Souleymane		Guinea
1	Emmanuel Adebayor		Togo
1	Emmanuel Amunike		Nigeria
1	Frédéric Kanouté		Mali
1	Ibrahim Sunday		Ghana
1	Jean Manga-Onguene		Cameroon
1	Kalusha Bwalya		Zambia
1	Karim Abdul Razak		Ghana
1	Lakhdar Belloumi		Algeria
1	Mahmoud Al-Khatib		Egypt
1	Mohammed Timoumi		Morocco
1	Mustapha Hadji		Morocco
1	Patrick Mboma		Cameroon
1	Paul Moukila		PR Congo
1	Rabah Madjer		Algeria
1	Rashidi Yekini		Nigeria
1	Salif Keïta		Mali
1	Tarak Dhiab		Tunisia
1	Théophile Abega		Cameroon
1	Thomas N'kono		Cameroon
1	Tshimen Bwanga		Zaire
1	Victor Ikpeba		Nigeria

African Player of the Year by Club

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No	Club
4		Manchester City
3		Mallorca
3		Olympique de Marseille
2		Arsenal
2		AS Monaco
2		Asante Kotoko
2		Barcelona
2		Canon Yaoundé
2		Chelsea
2		Internazionale
2		Lens
2		Liverpool
2		Paris Saint-Germain
2		AC Milan
2		Ajax
2		Al-Ahly
2		AS Saint-Etienne
1		Bayern Munich
1		Cagliari
1		CARA Brazzaville
1		Cercle Brugge
1		Chabab Mohammédia
1		Deportivo La Coruña
1		El Zamalek
1		Espanyol
1		Espérance Tunis
1		FAR Rabat
1		FC Porto
1		GC Mascara
1		Hafia Conakry
1		Parma
1		Saint-Denis
1		Sevilla
1		Sporting CP
1		Tonnerre Yaoundé
1		Toulouse
1		TP Mazembe
1		Vitória de Setúbal

African Player of the Year by Nationality

Nationalities
No.	Nationality
11	Cameroon
6	Côte d'Ivoire
6	Ghana
5	Nigeria
4	Morocco
4	Senegal
3	Algeria
3	Egypt
3	Liberia
2	Mali
1	PR Congo
1	Guinea
1	Togo
1	Tunisia
1	Zaire
1	Zambia

About the author: Ben Jardine

Ben Jardine is the managing editor of My Football Facts and has covered football since 2014. He writes across football statistics, history and current affairs, from all-time records and World Cup deep dives to live transfer-window coverage, with a focus on rigorously fact-checked, data-led analysis. Connect with Ben on LinkedIn.

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