The TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations’ greatest goal-scorers

The final draw for the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Morocco 2025 will take place in Rabat on 27 January, where the 24 competing teams will learn their fate. The finals competition will be a chance for players to enter the history books and provide feats of brilliance that will live long in the memory.

As we countdown to the draw, we look back at the leading scorers in AFCON finals history.

DIDIER DROGBA (COTE D’IVOIRE) – 11 GOALS
One of the best strikers of his generation anywhere in the world, Drogba was the veteran of five AFCON tournaments and netted 11 times in 21 matches, a rate of a 0.45 goals per game. He was part of the Cote d’Ivoire 'Golden Generation' but never lifted the AFCON trophy, despite being runner-up in 2006 and 2012. He finished with 65 goals in 105 caps in all competitions, making the all-time leading scorer for the Cote d’Ivoire national team.  

HOSSAM HASSAN (EGYPT) – 11 GOALS
Hassan played in a hugely impressive seven AFCON finals tournaments, winning three of them with the victories 20 years apart. The first came in 1986, before it was his opener in the decider 12 years later that helped Egypt beat South Africa 2-0. He was joint top scorer in that tournament with Benni McCarthy as they each netted seven goals. His final goal came in 2006 as Egypt defeated DR Congo 4-1 in the quarter-finals on their way to lifting the trophy again. He netted 11 goals in 21 finals appearances, or 0.52 goals per game. He is Egypt’s all-time leading scorer with 69 goals in 177 caps.  

PATRICK MBOMA (CAMEROON) – 11 GOALS
Mboma was a key part of the Cameroon sides that lifted the AFCON title in 2000 and 2002, and managed 11 goals in 17 games (0.65 per match) during four visits to the finals. That included a hat-trick against Zimbabwe in 2004. He scored in the 2000 decider as Cameroon defeated Nigeria 2-0, and got a crucial strike in a 1-0 quarter-final win over Egypt two years later as the Indomitable Lions defended their title.   

HASSAN EL-SHAZLY (EGYPT) – 12 GOALS
El-Shazly has the best goals per match ratio of any of the leading scorers after netting 12 times in just eight appearances, or 1.50 goals per game. He played in three finals, 1963, 1970 and 1974, and got a hat-trick against Nigeria in the first of those. He netted six goals in that competition and won the Golden Boot. He netted five more in 1970, including a hat-trick against Cote d’Ivoire, which makes him still today the only player to net two finals 'trebles'. He managed a final goal in 1974 and ended with an impressive 49 international strikes in 62 caps.

RASHIDI YEKINI (NIGERIA) – 13 GOALS
The burly striker helped Nigeria to the 1994 AFCON title and was runner-up on a further three occasions in 1984, 1988 and 1990. Often referred to as the greatest Nigerian striker of all time, Yekini won the Golden Boot and Best Player at the 1994 AFCON finals as Nigeria took home the title. He was also a star for Nigeria at the FIFA World Cup that same year, and finished his international career with 37 goals in 62 caps to be the Super Eagles’ all-time leading scorer. Thirteen of those goals came in 20 appearances at the AFCON finals.

LAURENT POKOU (COTE D’IVOIRE) – 14 GOALS
Pokou twice won the Golden Boot at the AFCON finals, in 1968 when he netted six goals, and two years later when he bagged another eight. That included five goals in a single game against Ethiopia, which remains a AFCON record. Sadly for him, the Elephants did not make the final on either occasion. But his record of 14 goals in 12 games and a ‘goals-per-match’ ratio of 1.17 is second only to El-Shazly among the leading scorers.  

SAMUEL ETO’O (CAMEROON) – 18 GOALS
The most prolific scorer in AFCON finals history is Eto’o, whose 18 goals came in 29 appearances (0.62 goals per game) over six tournaments between 2000 and 2010. The first two of those saw him lift the trophy with the Indomitable Lions, but it was in 2006 and 2008 (both five goals) where he twice won the Golden Boot. His long and storied international career lasted 17 years between 1997 and 2014, during which time he won 114 caps and scored 56 goals. That makes him Cameroon’s all-time leading scorer.