Africa’s biggest European success stories

Most appearances by an African player in the European Champion Clubs’ Cup/UEFA Champions League (including qualifying)
94: Didier Drogba (CIV – Marseille, Chelsea, Galatasaray)
82: Samuel Eto’o (CMR – Real Madrid, Mallorca, Barcelona, Internazionale, Chelsea)
76: Michael Essien (GHA – Chelsea, Real Madrid, AC Milan)
74: Kolo Touré (CIV – Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool, Celtic)
73: Samuel Kuffour (GHA – Bayern München, Roma, Livorno)
72: Emmanuel Eboué (CIV – Arsenal, Galatasaray)
69: Yaya Touré (CIV – Olympiacos, Barcelona, Manchester City)
66: Seydou Keita (MLI – Marseille, Lens, Sevilla, Barcelona, Roma)
60: Nwankwo Kanu (NIG – Internazionale, Portsmouth)
59: Jon Obi Mikel (NIG – Chelsea)

Eto'o
Cameroon’s Samuel Eto’o©Getty Images

Top-scoring African players in the European Champion Clubs’ Cup/UEFA Champions League (including qualifying)
44: Didier Drogba (CIV – Marseille, Chelsea, Galatasaray)
33: Samuel Eto’o (CMR – Real Madrid, Mallorca, Barcelona, Internazionale, Chelsea)
17: Seydou Doumbia (CIV – CSKA Moskva, Basel)
14: George Weah (LIB – Paris Saint-Germain, AC Milan)
13: Emmanuel Adebayor (TGO – Monaco, Arsenal, Real Madrid)
11: Michael Essien (GHA – Chelsea, Real Madrid, AC Milan)
11: Rabah Madjer (ALG – Porto)
10: Yssouf Koné (CIV – Rosenborg, CFR Cluj)
10: Obafemi Martins (NIG – Internazionale, Wolfsburg, Rubin)
9: Vincent Aboubakar (CMR – Porto, Beşiktaş)
9: Frédéric Kanouté (MLI – Lyon, Sevilla)
9: Dame N’Doye (SEN – København)

Most appearances by African players in UEFA club competition*
113: Samuel Eto’o (CMR – Real Madrid, Mallorca, Barcelona, Internazionale, Anji, Chelsea, Everton)
111: Seydou Keita (MLI – Marseille, Lens, Sevilla, Barcelona, Valencia, Roma)
102: Didier Drogba (CIV – Marseille, Chelsea, Galatasaray)
90: Samuel Kuffour (GHA – Bayern München, Roma, Livorno)
90: Kolo Touré (CIV – Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool, Celtic)
85: Yaya Touré (CIV – Metalurh Donetsk, Olympiacos, Barcelona, Manchester City)
81: Nwankwo Kanu (NIG – Ajax, Internazionale, Arsenal, Portsmouth)
79: Emmanuel Eboué (CIV – Beveren, Arsenal, Galatasaray)
78: Didier Zokora (CIV – Genk, St-Étienne, Tottenham, Sevilla, Trabzonspor)
77: Benni McCarthy (SAF – Ajax, Celta Vigo, Porto, Blackburn)

Didier Drogba (Chelsea)
Didier Drogba winning the 2015 title at Chelsea©Getty Images

Top-scoring African players in UEFA club competition*
50: Didier Drogba (CIV – Marseille, Chelsea, Galatasaray)
48: Samuel Eto’o (CMR – Real Madrid, Mallorca, Barcelona, Internazionale, Anji, Chelsea, Everton)
35: George Weah (LIB – Monaco, Paris Saint-Germain, AC Milan)
32: Benni McCarthy (SAF – Ajax, Celta Vigo, Porto, Blackburn)
31: Frédéric Kanouté (MLI – Lyon, Sevilla)
26: Seydou Doumbia (CIV – Young Boys, CSKA Moskva, Roma, Basel)
25: Emmanuel Adebayor (TGO – Monaco, Arsenal, Manchester City, Real Madrid, Tottenham Hotspur)
23: Obafemi Martins (NIG – Internazionale, Newcastle, Wolfsburg, Rubin, Levante)
22: Mamadou Niang (SEN – Troyes, Marseille, Fenerbahçe)
20: Wilfried Bony (CIV – Sparta Praha, Vitesse, Swansea, Manchester City)

Foxi Kéthévoama (Astana)
Central African Republic’s Foxi Kéthévoama©AFP/Getty Images
Victor Wanyama (Celtic FC)
Kenya’s Victor Wanyama©Getty Images
Mohamed Tchite (R. Standard de Liège)
Rwanda’s Mohamed Tchité©Getty Images

Nation-by-nation: Most appearances by African players in UEFA club competition*
ALGERIA: 44 — Sofiane Feghouli (Valencia, West Ham)
ANGOLA: 16 — Mateus (Nacional, Arouca)
BENIN: 18 — Babatounde Bello (Žilina)
BOTSWANA: none
BURKINA FASO: 57 — Charles Kaboré (Marseille, Kuban, Krasnodar)
BURUNDI: 10 — Gaël Bigirimana (Newcastle)
CAMEROON: 113 — Samuel Eto’o (Real Madrid, Mallorca, Barcelona, Internazionale, Anji, Chelsea, Everton)
CAPE VERDE: 15 — Ryan Mendes (LOSC Lille)
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: 25 — Foxi Kéthévoama (Újpest, Kecskémet, Astana)
CHAD: 23 — Japhet N’Doram (Nantes, Monaco)
COMOROS: none
REPUBLIC OF CONGO: 41 — Christopher Samba (Hertha Berlin, Blackburn, Anji, Dinamo Moskva, Panathinaikos)
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: 53 — Shabani Nonda (Rennes, Monaco, Roma, Blackburn, Galatasaray)
DJIBOUTI: none
EGYPT: 48 = Mohamed Salah (Basel, Chelsea, Fiorentina, Roma), Hany Ramzy (Neuchâtel Xamax, Werder Bremen, Kaiserslautern)
EQUATORIAL GUINEA: 8 — Juvenal Edjogo (Racing Santander, Santa Coloma)
ERITREA: 12 — Henok Goitom (AIK Solna)
ETHIOPIA: none
GABON: 45 — Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (LOSC Lille, Borussia Dortmund)
GAMBIA: 32 — Demba Savage (Honka Espoo, HJK Helsinki, Häcken)
GHANA: 90 — Samuel Kuffour (Bayern München, Roma, Livorno)
REPUBLIC OF GUINEA: 45 — Bobo Baldé (Celtic)
GUINEA-BISSAU: 20 — Ismaël Bangoura (Dynamo Kyiv)
IVORY COAST: 102 — Dider Drogba (Marseille, Chelsea, Galatasaray)
KENYA: 23 — Victor Wanyama (Celtic, Southampton, Tottenham)
LESOTHO: none
LIBERIA: 62 — George Weah (Monaco, Paris Saint-Germain, AC Milan)
LIBYA: 16 — Mohamed El Monir (Jagodina, Dinamo Minsk)
MADAGASCAR: 26 — Anicet Abel (CSKA Sofia, Botev Plovdiv, Ludogorets Razgrad)
MALAWI: 1 = Esau Kanyenda (Lokomotiv Moskva), Mourtala Diakité (Dinamo Bucureşti)
MALI: 111 — Seydou Keita (MLI – Marseille, Lens, Sevilla, Barcelona, Valencia, Roma)
MAURITANIA: none
MAURITIUS: 2 — Jozef Vincent (Antwerp)
MOROCCO: 62 — Noureddine Naybet (Nantes, Sporting CP, Deportivo La Coruña)
MOZAMBIQUE: 35 — Simão (Panathinaikos)
NAMIBIA: 31 — Collin Benjamin (Hamburg)
NIGER: 14 — Moussa Yahaya (Hutnik Kraków, Legia Warszawa, GKS Katowice)
NIGERIA: 81 — Nwankwo Kanu (NIG – Ajax, Internazionale, Arsenal, Portsmouth)
RWANDA: 37 — Mohamed Tchité (Standard Liège, Anderlecht, Racing Santander, Club Brugge)
SÃO TOMÉ AND PRINCIPE: none
SENEGAL: 65 — Mamadou Niang (Troyes, Marseille, Fenerbahçe)
SEYCHELLES: none
SIERRA LEONE: 33 — Medo (Partizan, HJK Helsinki)
SOMALIA: 4 — Liban Abdi (Ferencváros)
SOUTH AFRICA: 77 — Benni McCarthy (SAF – Ajax, Celta Vigo, Porto, Blackburn)
SOUTH SUDAN: none
SUDAN: none
SWAZILAND: none
TANZANIA: 12 — Mbwana Samatta (Genk)
TOGO: 76 — Emmanuel Adebayor (Monaco, Arsenal, Manchester City, Real Madrid, Tottenham Hotspur)
TUNISIA: 43 — Karim Haggui (Strasbourg, Bayer Leverkusen, Hannover)
UGANDA: 46 — Ibrahim Sekagya (Salzburg)
ZAMBIA: 24 — Charles Musonda (Anderlecht)
ZIMBABWE: 40 — Bruce Grobbelaar (Liverpool)