According to the Transfermarkt.com, former FC Barcelona and Cameroon star Samuel Eto’o lead the charts with 19 goals in 29 matches in the tournament.
It is very fitting that the most decorated African player of all time, having won the African Player of the Year award a record four times, would also be the greatest AFCON goalscorer in history.
Four (4) goals in his maiden appearance in the tournament in 2000, one goal each in 2002 and 2004, five goals at the 2006 AFCON, and another five in 2008, enabled Eto’o to surpass Laurent Pokou’s 14 goals. Two more goals in the 2010 AFCON staged in Angola helped extend his tally to 19.
Samuel Eto’o Fils’ 19 goals in six African Cup Nations tournaments may take another generation to get scrubbed.
In second place is former Chelsea and Ivory Coast international Didier Drogba, with 18 goals. The former Blues striker played in nine editions of the competition and featured in 29 matches in total.
Third place is shared by three different players in Tunisian Issam Jemaa, Angola’s Manucho and Zambian legend Christopher Katongo, who are all on 15 goals. The former Zambia captain played 32 games to get his goals, while Manucho and Jemaa only need 24 and 28 games respectively.
1) Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon) – Goals: 19
2) Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast) – Goals: 18
3) Issam Jemaa (Tunisia) – Goals: 15
4) Christopher Katongo (Zambia) – Goals: 15
5) Manucho (Angola) – Goals: 15
6) Asamoah Gyan (Ghana) – Goals: 14
7) Gervinho (Ivory Coast) – Goals: 13
8) El Arbi Hillel Soudani (Algeria) – Goals: 13
9) Salomon Kalou (Ivory Coast) – Goals: 13
10) Stephane Sessegnon (Benin) – Goals: 12