List Of African Players Who Have Been Nominated For Ballon d’Or Award (Pictures Below)

May 29, 2020 1:38 PM

George Weah was at his best when he won Ballon d’Or in 1995 and since then, no African player has been able to win the prestigious award. Samuel Eto’o, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane have come close in the last two years but the wait goes .

Let takes a look at Africa players who have been nominated for the ball on d'or soso far :

Asamoah Gyan – 2010

Asamoah Gyan was among the ten players nominated for the FIFA Golden Ball award for the best player of the tournament, which was eventually won Diego Forlan. He was abgain shortlisted for the FIFA Player of the Year award and the Ballon d'Or in 2010.

Emmanuel Adebayor – 2008

It’s easy to forget that the striker who scored one goal in 15 matches for Crystal Palace in 2016 and was known to “sit in the weight room on a chair with a cup of coffee and a muffin,” according to Brede Hangeland, was on his day one of the most devastating forwards in world football

Adebayor scored 30 goals in all competitions for Arsenal in 2007-08 but has only managed to pass the 15-goal mark twice since, once in the Premier League and the other time in Turkey.

El Hadji Diouf - 2002

The insanely controversial winger/striker Diouf is another surprise nominee from 2002. Much like Diop his nomination came from his performances at the World Cup where he looked like a genuinely world-class player and provided the assist to Diop against France. Also like Diop, he gained 2 points in voting and beat out legends of the game like Filippo Inzaghi, Paolo Maldini and David Beckham. Diouf is surprising, quite simply, because he was absolutely god awful post-World Cup. When a team spends £10 million on a striker to take them to the league title, they expect more than 3 goals in 2 seasons and a whole heap of controversy. Diouf was never a £10 million player rather he looked like one before he was caught out at a big team with the pressure on. His spell at Bolton helped his reputation a bit but he never truly set the world on fire when he played for Sunderland, Blackburn, Rangers, Doncaster or Leeds. It’s baffling still to this day that Diouf was nominated let alone he actually got a vote never mind two.

Papa Bouba Diop - 2002

Nicknamed “The Wardrobe” because of his hulking size by Fulham fans, Diop is the first surprise nominee from the 2002 Ballon d’Or. His nomination was not because of scintillating club form but instead his performances at the World Cup where he scored 3 goals from midfield including the winner in the opening game against reigning champions France. Diop managed 2 points in the voting the same as Rio Ferdinand and more than 27 other nominees including Iker Casillas, Pablo Aimar and Patrick Kluivert. The surprise of this nomination is purely because when looking at his career, he has never really been good enough to play for a top tier team in one of the major leagues nor has he really experienced truly big matches. He has had spells at clubs like Grasshoppers, Neuchatel Xamax, Portsmouth, Fulham, AEK Athens, West Ham and Birmingham which has hardly guaranteed him a pile of winners medals. Also, Diop got lots of praise and comparisons to Patrick Vieira but so did Salif Diao and he struggled with a step up when he joined Liverpool so the question will always remain with Diop. And, when all is said and done, you have to ask the question: was Diop truly better than Real Madrid and Spain number 1 Iker Casillas in 2002?

Abedi Pele Ayew

A legend of African football, Abedi Pele Ayew was the first African player to come close to winning the Ballon d’Or even before George Weah.

A pioneer of African footballers in Europe, the former midfielder, now 55, played for clubs in Italy, Switzerland and Germany but it is his spell in France that made him a household name.

Pele played for Lyon and Marseille and it was his spell with the latter that he won the Ligue 1 and UEFA Champions League title.

He was named Man of the Match in Marseille’s Champions League win over Milan and was among the highest placed players in the World Player of the Year voting that year.

Finidi George - 1995

Former Ajax Amsterdam winger Finidi George was the first Nigerian player to be recognized when he finished joint 21st in the 1995 Ballon d'Or with six points.

Victor Ikpeba - 1997

In the 1997 edition, ex-Monaco striker Victor Ikpeba finished in 32nd place with 2 points, an award won by the great Ronaldo of Brazil.

Kanu - 1996/1998/1999

Before then, Kanu ranked 11th in the Ballon d'Or with 14 points in 1996 and was the top African player on the list ahead of George Weah. Okocha was nominated but received no votes for the second successive year.

At 20 years, the former Gunners number 25 is the youngest ever Nigerian to be nominated for the Ballon d'Or.

Sunday Oliseh - 1998/1999

Sunday Oliseh were also nominated for the 1998 and 1999 Ballon d'Or awards but did not finish in the top twenty.

Okocha - 1995/1996

Okocha was 16 players nominated in 1995 but received no votes.

Amokachi - 1995 was among 16 players nominated in 1995 but received no votes.

Didier Drogba - 2006,2010,2012

Yes, the Ballon D'Or is, realistically speaking, a two-horse race between the dueling colossi of La Liga, but that doesn't mean we can't celebrate the accomplishments of certain club legends who make the shortlist. He's no longer with the Blues, but Didier Drogba remains a club legend, and he's Chelsea's only representative on the shortlist for the world's top player.

Let's review his credentials from last year, because reminiscing is good:

Scored the winning goal in the FA Cup final.

Key goal against Barcelona.

88th minute equaliser in the European Cup final.

Converted final penalty for Chelsea's first ever Champions League win.

Alright! That's a pretty good list. Granted, Drogba didn't really have the best or most consistent of seasons, but he was most certainly there when it mattered, leaving the club with the biggest of bangs. Now, he's got absolutely no hope of winning this thing with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo floating around, but even making this list is a huge honour -- one which Drogba fully deserves.

Yaya Toure - 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014.

Manchester City's Ivory Coast midfield ace believes he should have been given more credit in the awards dominated by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

3. HOSSAM HASSAN (Egypt) - The sublime poacher was a key figure in three of Egypt’s Afcon triumphs in 1986, 1998 and 2006. He remains the Pharaoh’s top scorer of all time with 68 goals in 176 outings but was never considered good enough for the African Player of the Year award.

Retired at the age of 40, Hassan amassed an impressive array of titles, including three African Nations Cups (1986, 1998, and 2006), the only player to do so.

In addition, Hassan has an African Champions League title and 11 Egyptian league championships under his belt.Again, he is the only player to do so. But Ballon d’Ors is only for European powerhouses.

Mohamed Salah - 2018/2019

Salah was nominated for the prestigious Ballon d'Or award in 2018, competing with Cristiano Ronaldo and Luka Modric. Modric, who led Real Madrid to the Champions League title in 2018, took the award at that time. Salah won African Player of the Year for the second year consecutively in 2018

Sadio Mane - 2018/2019

Many believe he deserved more at the 2019 Ballon d’Or gala. The Senegalese winger was by far the best EPL player in 2018/19 when his 26 goals in all competitions led Liverpool to UEFA Champions League and UEFA Super Cup glory as well as runners-up finishes in the EPL and Africa Cup of Nations.

However, Mane did not even make it to the podium as he was fourth after garnering 347 votes and was pipped by eventual winner Lionel Messi (686 votes) with Liverpool team-mate Virgil van Dijk second (679 votes) and Juventus superstar Cristiano Ronaldo who had 476 votes.

Riyad Mahrez - 2016

Riyad Mahrez keeps on making history. The Algerian player is actually the first African player to win the best player in the English Premier League's trophy. And now, another big achievement was just added to the Algerian star : Riyad Mahrez was selected among the players nominated to win the

Ballon d'Or with other big players like Lionel Messi,

Cristiano Ronaldo and Antoine Griezmann.

In his first talk to the press after being shortlisted, Riyad Mahrez said: "It's a big honor. I'm proud to belong to such a big level. However, I need to stay focused, to keep on working. I don't have to stop here".

Riyad Mahrez is not the only African player in the shortlist. Borussia Dortmund's Pierre Emerick Aubameyang was also in the list after his brilliant performance with his German club.

Pierre Emerick Aubameyang - 2019

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has been named on the 30-man shortlist for the 2019 Ballon d'Or. Our striker was among the first 10 players confirmed as contenders for the prestigious award, after winning the Premier League Golden Boot in his first full season at the club.