The FIFA World Cup is no doubt the biggest football competition on the planet but the UEFA Champions League also stands out in world football and I have the list of African players that have won the Champions League.
So far, four more Liverpool stars, Mohamed Salah; Sadio Mane; Joel Matip and Naby Keita have joined the list of African players that have won the Champions League as goals from the Egyptian and Divock Origi gave them a 2-0 win over Tottenham in Madrid.
The only other Liverpool player that has won the UCL happens to be the first African player to win the Champions League.
Although at that time it was called the European Champions Cup. His name is Bruce Grobbelaar. The Durban-born lifted the title with Liverpool back in 1984.
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And Algeria’s Rabah Madjer did the lifting three years later with FC Porto.
Legend Abedi Pele won the competition in 1993 with Olympique Marseille, before the Super Eagles duo of Finidi George and Nwankwo Kanu lifted the Cup with Ajax Amsterdam in 1995.
Geremi of Cameroon was the first African star to win it twice after lifting the famous cup in 2000 and 2002 with Real Madrid.
In 2012, Didier Drogba, John Obi Mikel, Salomon Kalou and Michael Essien were in the Chelsea team that won the European crown.
In all, there have been 24 Africans Champions League winners so far.
See the list of winners, countries, clubs and season below.
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List Of African Players That Have Won The Champions League
Bruce Grobbelaar [Zimbabwe] – Liverpool FC, 1983-1984
Rabah Madjer [Algeria] – FC Porto, 1986-1987
Abedi Pelé [Ghana] – Olympique de Marseille, 1992-1993
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Finidi George [Nigeria] – Ajax, 1994-1995
Nwankwo Kanu [Nigeria] – Ajax, 1994-1995
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Ibrahim Tanko [Ghana] – Borussia Dortmund, 1997
Samuel Kuffour [Ghana] – FC Bayern Munich 2000-2001
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Geremi [Cameroon] – Real Madrid, 2000 & 2002
Benni McCarthy [South Africa] – FC Porto, 2003-2004
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Djimi Traoré [Mali] – Liverpool FC, 2004-2005
Samuel Eto’o [Cameroon] – FC Barcelona, 2006, 2009 & Inter Milan, 2010
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Yaya Touré [Côte d’Ivoire] – FC Barcelona, 2008-2009
Seydou Keita [Mali] – FC Barcelona, 2008-2009, 2010-2011
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Sulley Muntari [Ghana] – Inter Milan, 2009-2010
McDonald Mariga [Kenya] – Inter Milan 2009 – 2010
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John Obi Mikel [Nigeria] – Chelsea FC, 2011-2012
Michael Essien [Ghana] – Chelsea FC, 2011-2012
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Salomon Kalou [Ivory Coast] – Chelsea FC, 2011-2012
Didier Drogba [Ivory Coast] – Chelsea FC, 2011-2012
Achraf Hakimi [Morocco] – Real Madrid FC, 2017-2018
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Mohamed Salah (Egypt) – Liverpool, 2019
Sadio Mane [Senegal] – Liverpool, 2019
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Joel Matip [Cameroon] – Liverpool, 2019
Naby Keita [Guinea] – Liverpool, 2019
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Édouard Osoque Mendy [Senegal] – Chelsea, 2021
Hakim Ziyech [Morocco] – Chelsea, 2021
Unfortunately, players like Rasheed Yekini, Mohamed Aboutrika, Asamoah Gyan, Roger Milla, Hossam Hassan and Essam El-Hadary never had the opportunity to grace Europe’s elite club competition.
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