Winning the Ballon d’Or is arguably a footballer’s greatest dream as it recognizes one as the overall best player amongst several others in a calendar year.
For an African, you can say this feat looks almost insurmountable as only one player from the continent has won the prestigious award in its illustrious history.
According to Goal, Liberian-born George Weah clinched the award in 1995, the first year that the prize was opened to non-European players.
Other African top talents have since been nominated for the award but non has come close to replicating the feat achieved by George Weah in a competition that has been dominated by Europeans and South Americans.
Sports Brief takes a look at the top African players never to win the Ballon d’Or.
Samuel Eto’o
Samuel Eto’o received votes in eight separate years for the Ballon d’Or but never got the opportunity to win the award.
The four-time African Footballer of the year had a remarkable career playing for top clubs including Barcelona and Inter Milan where he won the Champions League but was never considered good enough to win the Ballon d’Or.
Didier Drogba
Didier Drogba is considered one of Africa’s greatest-ever players but the Ivorian and Chelsea icon also failed to win the Ballon d’Or in his playing career.
Drogba’s best year was 2007 when he finished fourth behind Brazilian maestro Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Lionel Messi in the race for the award.
Yaya Toure
Between 2009 and 2015, Yaya Toure was nominated for the Ballon d’Or five times, solidifying his position as the best African midfielder of his generation.
The Ivorian would however fail in the final hurdle to win the award as he’s always seen as second-best to other world-class stars who were voted ahead of the former Barcelona and Manchester City star.
Riyad Mahrez
Riyad Mahrez’s fairytale run with Leicester City in 2016 could not help the Algerian bag the Ballon d’Or award despite winning the English Premier League with the Foxes.
Mohamed Salah
Mohamed Salah was Africa’s standout player in 2018 as he scored 44 goals in his debut season with Liverpool but the Egyptian lost out in the Ballon d’Or race to Luka Modric.
Salah finished 6th in the rankings with 188 points despite helping Liverpool reach the Champions League final that year and also bagging 32 Premier League goals.
Sadio Mane
Sadio Mane has been nominated for the Ballon d’Or in the last three years but the Senegalese have failed to win the coveted award.
Mane ranked 4th in the 2022 edition finishing behind Karim Benzema and Robert Lewandowski but the Bayern Munich forward is tipping his Real Madrid rival for the award.
