Only One Nigerian Player Is In AFCON Top 12 All-Time Highest Goalscorers

Only one Nigerian player is in the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) top 12 all-time highest goalscorers list ahead of the 2023 AFCON in Ivory Coast.

It is interesting to note that only one active footballer, Andre Ayew of Ghana, is in the top 12 AFCON all-time highest goalscorers’ list.

Ayew is 11th ranked player on the ranking with 10 goals and has the potentials of adding more to his tally in the forthcoming edition of the competition.

The only Nigerian in the top eleven is late Rashidi Yekini. The prolific striker scored 13 goals in AFCON and won the tournament twice before he retired.

Interestingly, no Nigerian footballer has been able to matchup with his goalscoring prowess in the tournament to date. He is currently ranked third on the AFCON all-time highest goalscorers’ list.

Former Cameroon national team captain, Samuel Eto’o is still the number one ranked goalscorer in the tournament with 18 goals, even though he has retired from international football since 2014. He won the tournament twice before he left the international scene.

It will be interesting to see which of the present crop of African strikers can break his goalscoring record during the 2023 AFCON which will commence on January 13 and end on February 11.

Below are the top 12 AFCON all-time highest goalscorers

1. Samuel Eto’O – (Cameroon)
18 goals

2. Laurent Poku – (Cote D’Ivoire)
14 goals

3. Rashidi Yekini – (Nigeria)
13 goals

4. Hassan El Shazly – (Egypt)
12 goals

5. Didier Drogba – (Cote d’Ivoire)
11 goals

6. Hossam Hassan – (Egypt)
11 goals

7. Patrick Mboma – (Cameroon)
11 goals

8. Kalusha Bwalya – (Zambia)
10 goals

9. Joel Tiehi – (Cote d’Ivoire)
10 goals

10. Santos – (Tunisia)
10 goals

11. Andre Ayew
(Ghana)
10 goals

12. Ndaye Mulamba – (DR Congo)
10 goals

Note that late Ndaye Mulamba scored 9 of his 10 goals in a single AFCON tournament (1974 in Egypt). Since then, no player has been able to score 9 goals in a single AFCON edition.