AFCON 2025 kicks off on Sunday with the opening match between host nation Morocco and Comoros, and some of the world’s best players will be eyeing continental glory.
However, down the years Afcon has produced its share of heartbreak for some of Africa’s greatest ever players.
Here we look at five African stars who have failed to lift the Africa Cup of Nations trophy.
Mohamed Salah
He once again carries Egypt’s hopes. Few can question his club pedigree. At Liverpool, the “Egyptian King” has won the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and Club World Cup, while also claiming multiple Golden Boots.
But on the international stage, Afcon glory has eluded him.
Salah has twice finished runner-up, losing the 2017 final to Cameroon and the 2021 final to Senegal on penalties. In a cruel twist, Salah was held back for the potentially crucial fifth spot kick in 2021, but never got to take it as Liverpool teammate Sadio Mane and Senegal won 4-2.
Injured during the group stage of the 2023 tournament, he watched from the sidelines as Egypt were eliminated by DR Congo. Now 33, time is running out for Egypt’s captain, despite representing the continent’s most successful Afcon nation with seven titles.
Didier Drogba
Ivory Coast legend Drogba is another icon denied the ultimate African honour.
Renowned for delivering on the biggest of stages at Chelsea, Drogba’s Afcon story is one of true heartbreak. He captained the Elephants in the 2006 and 2012 finals, both ending in penalty shoot-out defeats.
Always the man for the big occasion, Drogba scored nine goals in 10 major finals for Chelsea, who won eight of those finals. But he just couldn’t deliver on the Afcon stage.
In 2006, his opening kick in the penalty shoot-out was saved against Egypt. Six years later, he missed a crucial late penalty against Zambia before Ivory Coast lost another shoot-out. Fittingly cruel, the Elephants finally lifted the trophy in 2015 – months after Drogba had retired.
Nwankwo Kanu
Nigeria’s Kanu enjoyed a glittering club career with Ajax, Inter Milan and Arsenal, while also winning the Under-17 World Cup in 1993 and Olympic gold with Nigeria in 1996.
Yet Afcon proved frustratingly elusive for the Nigerian star. The closest he came was in 2000, when Nigeria lost the final to Cameroon on penalties, with Kanu seeing his spot-kick saved.
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Aged only 23, Kanu may have thought that his time would eventually come, but the Super Eagles never reached another final during his international career. Nigeria lost in the semi-finals in 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2010, and the two-time African footballer of the year retired without Afcon gold.
George Weah
Africa’s most decorated player, Weah is among those who never got to taste continental glory.
The only African to win the Ballon d’Or, Weah’s brilliance with PSG and AC Milan could not elevate Liberia to continental success.
The Lone Stars qualified for Afcon only twice during his career, in 1996 and 2002, and failed to progress beyond the group stage on both occasions.
He scored his lone Afcon goal aged 35 in the opening draw with Mali in 2002, but the Lone Stars’ tournament ended at the group stage again.
Weah later went on to lead his country as President, but Afcon success as a player was never realised.
Michael Essien
For powerhouse Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien, injury was the recurring enemy.
The Ghanaian midfielder won every major club trophy with Chelsea, but persistent fitness issues hampered his Afcon campaigns. He featured in Ghana’s painful 2010 final defeat to Egypt and was named in the Team of the Tournament in 2008 when Ghana hosted the tournament, but the Black Stars’ long wait for a fifth Afcon title continues.
It is one of African football’s great mysteries how four-time winners Ghana, one of the continent’s traditional powerhouses and the third most successful team after Egypt (7) and Cameroon (5), last won the tournament in 1982.
Essien and his generation were unable to break that trophy-drought and the Black Stars won’t even be in Morocco for this year’s event after failing to qualify – the first time in two decades.
Photo: Julian Finney/Getty Images
