5 legends who never won the AFCON
Several great African players never won the AFCON despite multiple attempts. Sport News Africa picks out five of them.
Sport News Africa · Author profile ·
Listen to this story
Audio version in preparation · read aloud by your browser meanwhile
Didier Drogba, two nightmare misses
He won everything at club level with Chelsea. A global star and Ivory Coast legend, Didier Drogba saw the Elephants win this AFCON just after his retirement. Cruel! In his international career, two moments will haunt him forever. In 2006, at his first AFCON, the former Ivorian striker missed his penalty in the shoot-out in the final against Egypt. In the end he left empty-handed, watching the Pharaohs lift the trophy. A few years later, with more experience, Didier Drogba reached the final of the 2012 AFCON with a golden chance to finally become African champion. Against the surprise package of the tournament, Zambia, he missed another penalty, during the match and at a crucial moment, with the score goalless. At the final whistle, the Zambians had won the final and denied Didier Drogba his greatest dream with the national team.
Seydou Keïta, up against a glass ceiling
A talented midfielder, Seydou Keïta is a legend of Malian football. A European champion with FC Barcelona, the former Eagles player lived through some of Mali's best moments at the AFCON. Surrounded by great players such as Mahamadou Diarra, he never won the title at the continent's biggest competition. Seydou Keïta fell at the semi-final stage on 4 occasions. In 2002 and 2004, he suffered heavy defeats, to Cameroon (3-0) and Morocco (4-0) respectively. Time changed nothing, as Mali went out again in 2012 against Ivory Coast (1-0) and against Nigeria (4-1) in 2013. The Malians never managed to break through that ceiling. Seydou Keïta retired from international football in 2015.
Read more on the same subject: AFCON 2023: 6 finals, 3 titles... the essential facts about Nigeria
Georges Weah, let down by a national team not up to his level
Georges Weah's fingerprints are not on the Africa Cup of Nations trophy. The only African to win the Ballon d'Or in football history, "Mister Georges" played in just two AFCONs in his career. In 1996, Liberia went out in the group stage, finishing 3rd behind Gabon and Zaire. The same happened in 2002. The former president of the Republic of Liberia scored just one goal in his AFCON career and never tasted victory.
Nwankwo Kanu, so close to the goal
An elegant Nigerian striker, Nwankwo Kanu is a great legend of African football and of the Super Eagles. A European champion with Ajax Amsterdam, the 1.97-metre former player conquered the world by winning Olympic gold with Nigeria at the 1996 Games, as well as the African Ballon d'Or in the same year. After 87 caps and 13 goals, Nwankwo Kanu never won the AFCON. His only chance to get his hands on the trophy came in 2000, in the final against Cameroon, with one of Nigeria's best teams in the competition. But that side lost the penalty shoot-out to the Indomitable Lions.
El Hadji Diouf, one final and that's it
A two-time African Ballon d'Or winner (2001 and 2002), El Hadji Diouf was the wonderkid of Senegalese football in the early 2000s. Talented and a star of the Lions, Senegal shocked the world by reaching the quarter-finals of the 2002 World Cup on their first appearance. A few months before the campaign in South Korea, El Hadji Diouf played at the AFCON in neighbouring Mali. In the Lions' first final in their history, El Hadji Diouf was not the hero of the match because of a penalty missed in the shoot-out. Cameroon ended the dream of El Hadji Diouf and of that fine Senegalese generation.