African players who have won the UEFA Champions League
UEFA Champions League, formerly known as European Cup is the most prestigious tournament amongst clubs in Europe and the globe’s most distinguished club competition. It was founded in 1955. This prestigious tournament was rebranded with its current name; The UEFA Champions League in the year 1992. Before the rebranding of the tournament to its current name, the Europeans cup was played by champions of some domestic leagues in a straight knockout tournament. The winner has eventually crowned the European Club Champion. During the early years of the competition, only a few African players won the UEFA Champions League. The 21st Century has seen an increase in the number of African players who have won the UEFA Champions League.
Even though the UEFA Champions League is a competition for clubs in Europe, African players in Europe have dominated the game and have left an indelible mark in the heart of the fans and the history of the competition. We have seen players like George Weah who was the 19994/95 UEFA Champions League top scorer, Samuel Eto’o, Didier Drogba, and many more. Read also, foreign players who have won NBA MVP.
So far, there are twenty-six (26) African players who have won the UEFA Champions League.
Bruce Grobbelaar
Bruce Grobbelaar is from Zimbabwe. Playing for Liverpool, he made history by being the first African player to win UEFA Champions League, formerly known as the European Cup. During the 1983/84 season, he accomplished this milestone. He was the Reds and Zimbabwe’s national team goalkeeper. He appeared in 628 games for the Reds. . In addition to the UEFA Champions League, he won 3 League Cups, 3 FA Cups, and six league titles during his 13-year star at Liverpool.
Rabah Madjer
Rabah Madjer is an Algerian who won the UEFA Champions League with FC Porto during the 1986/87 season. He was a forward in the Portuguese team and equalized the goal against Bayern Munich with his back heel during the finals of the UEFA Champions League. The match ended with FC Porto scoring another goal with an assist from Rabah Madjer. After the great performance he put up in the Champions League, he was crowned with Ballon D’or Africain in 1987.
Abedi Ayew
He was given the nickname Abedi Pele. This name should tell you how great he was. Abedi Pele is former a Ghanaian International who won the UEFA Champions League with Olympic Marseille in the 1992/93 season. He contributed immensely to the team’s victory by providing the only assist of the game from a corner kick, which was headed by Basile Boli, to score the only goal of the game.
Findi George
Findi George hails from Rivers State in Nigeria. He won the UEFA Champions League with Ajax during the 1994/95 season against AC Milan. Throughout his 3-year stay at the Dutch club, he made 85 appearances and scored 18 goals. He is currently the head coach of Enyimba Fc. He was a right-winger during his playing days and wore the number 7 jersey throughout his playing days for the Nigerian National team. Read also: players who have won the World Cup, Balon D’or and UEFA Champions League.
Nwankwo Kano
He won the UEFA Champions League together with his fellow Nigerian, Find George in 1995. For the period of his stay in Ajax, he made 54 appearances and found the back of the net 25 times. He came in as a substitute in the 1995 UEFA Champions League finals He is a two-time African Player of the Year winning it in 1996 and 1999.
Ibrahim Tanko
Ibrahim Tanko is a former Ghanaian International who joined the German giants, Borrusia Dortmund at the age of 17 years. During his first season, he made 14 appearances and scored a goal. Injuries plagued the career of this promising attacker which led to a loss of form. He was part of Borrusia Dortmund’s 1996/97 UEFA Champions League winning team. Due to injuries, he made only three appearances during the champions league run as a late substitute.
Samuel Kuffour
He was popularly known as Sammy Kuffuor. After a disappointing and heartbreaking loss at the finals of the 1998/99 UEFA Champions League against Manchester United, he won the 2000/01 Champions League with Bayern Munich against Valencia on penalties. He is the second Ghanaian to win the Champions League with a Bundesliga Club. During his 12-year stay with the Bavarians, he played as a defender. He finished second during the 1999 and 2001 voting for the Africans Player of the Year losing to Nigeria’s Nwankwo Kano and Senegal’s El Hadj Diouf. respectively.
Geremi Sorele Njitap Fotso.
He was simply known as Geremi. During his 3-year stay at the Bernabeu, Geremi won two Champions League trophies 1999/00 and 2001/02. He hails from Cameroon where he won the African Cup with the Cameroonian National Team in 2000 and 20002. Geremi was a utility player; he could play several positions and he is known for his combative style of play.
Benni McCarthy
Benni McCarthy was a South African who won the UEFA Champions League whiles playing for FC Porto. He was the top goal scorer for the 2003/04 Primera Liga Season with 20 goals in 23 matches. He was very influential in FC Porto’s UEFA Champions League victorious run for the 2003/04 season, scoring against Alex Fergusons’ star-studded Manchester United in the second round.
Djimi Traore
He was born in France but played for the Malian National Team. He was a Liverpool Player from 1999-2006 but spent some time in the reserve team and a loan spell at Lens for a season. Djimi Traore starred in the 2004/05 Champions League Final against AC Milan. He is well remembered for his goal-line clearance that denied Shevchenko a goal that could have won AC Milan the coveted trophy.
Samuel Eto’o Fils
He holds the title of Africa’s most decorated player. Currently, he is the president of the Cameroons Football Association. Having won the UEFA Champions League three times, he is regarded as the African player with the most Champions League medals. Eto’o hails from Cameroon and played as a forward. During the 2005/06 season, he won his first UEFA Champions League medal. He scored six goals, including the game-tying goal in the finals versus Arsenal of England. His second UEFA Champions League trophy was during the 2008/09 season and he won it against Manchester United after scoring the first goal of the match in the 10th minute. Barcelona went on to win 2-0. His last UEFA Champions League medal was with Inter Milan in 2010. He is a four-time African Best Player of the year.
Yaya Toure
Yaya Toure is an Ivorian who won the Champions League together with Samuel Eto’o at Barcelona during the 2008/09 season. Even though he was a midfielder he was a field in as a center back due to injuries and suspensions of the regular defenders. He had a very short stint at the Spanish club due to the manager selecting Sergio Busquets over him. He is also a four-time African Football Player of the Year together with his former teammate from Barcelona, Samuel Eto’o.
Seydou Keita
Seydou Keita is a two-time UEFA Champions League Winner with the Catalans. He was born in Mali. He played 20 minutes of the 2008/09 Champions League Final against Manchester United. His four-year stay at Camp Nou saw him adding 22 goals to his name. He won his second UEFA Champions League with the Spanish giants in 2010/11 against Manchester United at Wembley.
Sulley Muntari
Sulley Muntari is a former Ghanaian International footballer who won the UEFA Champions League together with Samuel Eto’o and Kenya’s McDonald Mariga. He played for Inter Milan. He also made history by becoming the first Ghanaian to win the treble; the UEFA Champions League, the Italian Cup, and Serie A.
McDonald Mariga
The Kenyan international joined Inter Milan from Parma at the eleventh hour of the transfer window. He made history as the first Kenyan to play and win the Champions League in the 2009/10 season. His spell at the club was short-lived as he was loaned out to Spanish side Real Sociedad for half a season. He was then loaned to Parma until he re-signed a new contract with Parma in September 2014.
The 2011/12 season of the UEFA Champions League tournament saw 4 more Africans joining the league of stars to be part of the African Players who have won the UEFA Champions League
John Obi Mikel
Mikel Obi is one of the four African Players to win the UEFA Champions League against Bundesliga side, Bayern Munich at the home stadium of the Bavarians, The Allianz Arena. Mikel Obi played the full 120 minutes as they played a 1-1 draw. Chelsea emerged as champions of the UEFA Champions League of the 2011/12 season on penalties. He was praised by Sky Sports pundit, Jamie Redknapp for his excellent defensive abilities.
Michael Essien
Michael Essien is a former Ghanaian International player who played for the London-based club from 2005-2014. As a result of injuries, Essien missed a lot of matches in the first half of the season, making it difficult to gain a start in the UEFA Champions League run. He is one of the African players to win the UEFA Champions League with the club.
Salomon Kalou
The third member of the 4 Africans to win the UEFA Champions League medal at Chelsea. Salomon Kalou is an Ivorian international who was signed by Jose Mourhino; the special one. He played alongside his fellow Ivorian, Didier Drogba. He started the 2011/12 UEFA Champions League Final which saw Chelsea emerging victorious on penalties.
Didier Drogba
Didier Drogba left Chelsea as a club legend. He scored the equalizer of the 2012 UEFA Champions League against Bayern Munich to force the play to extra time. The Blues went on to win the tournament on penalties with Didier Drogba scoring the last kick. He was the top scorer of the club’s 2011/12 victorious Champions League run as he netted six goals from open play. He is an Ivorian international and played as a forward.
Achraf Hakimi
Achraf Hakimi is the first Moroccan to win the UEFA Champions League. Despite not being in the line-up that won the 2017/18 UEFA Champions League, he received a medal for being a member of the team. He played his first match for Real Madrid in 2016 when the team played and lost against Paris Saint-Germain in the 2016 International Champions Cup.
Like Chelsea, Liverpool also added four players to the list of African players who have won the UEFA Champions League
Mohammed Sallah
Sallah got injured in the early hours of the 2018 UEFA Champions League Final which dampened the spirits of the Liverpool players as well as the fans since he was their best player. Liverpool went on to win to lose to Real Madrid. Liverpool qualified for the final the next year and went on to win the UEFA Champions League against Tottenham Hotspurs. He was the scorer of Liverpool after scoring 5 goals in the 2018/19 UEFA Champions League including one in the final, which he scored from a penalty kick in the early seconds of the game. He is an Egyptian international player.
Sadio Mane
Sadio Mane comes from Bambali, Senegal. He scored four goals during the 2018/19 UEFA Champions League. He earned a penalty in the opening seconds of the UEFA Champions League Finals when his cross struck Moussa Sissoko’s arm. Sadio Mane was a member of the team that was humiliated by Real Madrid in the 2018 UEFA Champions League Final the previous year.
Joel Matip
Joel Matip Is a retired Cameroonian international player. He partners with Virgil Van Djik to form a solid defense duo. HE provided an assist to Divorce Origi in the closing minutes of the 2018/19 UEFA Champions League Final to extend their lead to 2-0.
Naby Keita
Keita joined Liverpool in July 2018. He was given the iconic number 8 shirt of the club. He scored his only goal of the 2018/19 UEFA Champions League goal against FC Porto in the first leg of the quarter-finals. Due to an injury, he picked up in May, he was not part of the 2018/19 UEFA Champions League Final line-up but was given a medal.
Eduard Mendy
On the 29th of May, 2021, Mendy joined the group of African players who have won the UEFA Champions League. He made history as the second African goalkeeper to win the UEFA Champions League finals. Eduard Mendy joined Chelsea in September 2020 and quickly became the first-choice keeper ahead of Kepa. He joins Santiago Canizares and Keylor Navas as the only goalkeepers to keep 9 clean sheets in a single campaign in the UEFA Champions League. He is the stopper of Senegal’s national team.
Hakim Ziyech
He is the second Moroccan to win the UEFA Champions League after Achraf Hakimi. He scored two goals to help during the 2020/21 UEFA Champions League campaign. His first goal for Chelsea was against Krasnodar on the second match day of the UEFA Champions League. His second goal of the UEFA Champions League was against Atletico Madrid in the round of 16.
