Eto'o, Pokou and Yekini: the 3 top scorers in AFCON history
AFCON: who are the leading scorers in the history of the competition? The top three are Samuel Eto'o, Laurent Pokou and Rachidi Yekini.
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Samuel Eto’o, the chief marksman
Wherever there is green grass and a round ball, Samuel Eto’o has made his name. At the Africa Cup of Nations, the former Indomitable Lions number 9 also terrorised defences and rattled the net. He is indeed the all-time top scorer in AFCON history. The current president of Fécafoot has 18 goals at the Africa Cup of Nations, all of them across six tournaments played in Cameroon colours (2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2010). He is also Cameroon's record goalscorer to date (56 goals in 118 caps).
Eto’o also finished as AFCON top scorer twice (2006-2008, 5 goals), and won two titles, in 2000 and 2002. The King of AFCON.
Laurent Pokou, a ball in his honour
Laurent Pokou is a huge legend of Ivorian and African football. Before Samuel Eto'o, the title of AFCON's all-time top scorer belonged to him for 38 years (from 1970 to 2008). The Ivorian has 14 goals at the Africa Cup of Nations. He scored them between 1968 (6 goals) and 1970 (8 goals), when he finished as top scorer. In his honour, the ball for AFCON 2023 bears his name.
Pokou also achieved the feat of scoring 5 times against Ethiopia in Ivory Coast's 6-1 win at the 1970 tournament. Nobody has done the same since in an AFCON finals match. Remarkable.
Rachidi Yekini close behind
Nigeria did not need Victor Osimhen and company to have an exceptional striker in their ranks. Back in the 1990s, a certain Rachidi Yekini was already tormenting African defences. It is no coincidence that he finished as AFCON top scorer in 1992 (4 goals) and 1994 (5 goals). In total, he bagged 13 goals in Africa's premier football competition. That makes him the most prolific Nigerian, and the 3rd-highest scorer in the tournament's history on the continent.
Rachidi Yekini led his side to the title in 1994, but also lost three finals (1984, 1988 and 1990). With 37 goals in 62 caps, he is the all-time top scorer for the Super Eagles. A Royal Eagle.
Among players still active, André Ayew (Ghana, 10 goals), Vincent Aboubakar (Cameroon, 9 goals) and Sadio Mané (Senegal, 8 goals) can hope to add to their tallies at AFCON in Ivory Coast.
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