Mohamed Salah – 64 goals (Basel, Chelsea, Fiorentina, Roma, Liverpool)
Salah stands clear at the top of the African goalscoring charts, a remarkable turnaround given he managed just three goals in his first 15 Champions League appearances, back when he was a fringe player at Chelsea.
His move to Liverpool in 2017 transformed his Champions League career, and he went on to win the trophy with the club in 2019.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – 59 goals (Lille, Dortmund, Arsenal, Barcelona, Chelsea, Marseille)
Aubameyang has built his tally across six different clubs, making him one of the most well-travelled African goalscorers the competition has seen, though a Champions League winner’s medal has so far eluded him.
ALSO: Tshego Mabasa on Mbokazi, Pirates and life at Maghreb Fès
Didier Drogba – 50 goals (Marseille, Chelsea, Galatasaray)
Drogba’s Champions League legacy is defined by one night above all others. The 2012 final, where his late header forced extra time against Bayern Munich before he converted the winning penalty in the shootout, sealing Chelsea’s first European Cup.
He returned to the competition two years later with Galatasaray, scoring twice in what proved to be his final European campaign.
Samuel Eto’o – 48 goals (Real Madrid, Mallorca, Barcelona, Inter, Anji, Chelsea, Everton)
Eto’o appeared in three separate Champions League final wins between 2006 and 2010, with two different clubs, a genuinely rare feat that underlines his status as one of the competition’s great African performers.
Sadio Mané – 35 goals (Salzburg, Southampton, Liverpool, Bayern Munich)
Mané starred alongside Salah as Liverpool won the trophy in 2019, and remains one of the most consistent African goal threats the competition has produced across a career spanning four different clubs.
George Weah – 35 goals (Monaco, Paris Saint-Germain, Milan)
The only African player to win the Ballon d’Or, Weah’s Champions League tally came in an era before the competition expanded into its modern format, making his goal return all the more notable.
AFRICA PICKS: Football tips and predictions
Benni McCarthy – 32 goals (Ajax, Celta Vigo, Porto, Blackburn)
South Africa’s own representative on this list, McCarthy remains the country’s most prolific performer in the competition’s history, having won the trophy with Porto in 2004, the high point of South African involvement in the Champions League.
Frédéric Kanouté – 31 goals (Lyon, Sevilla)
Best known for his Europa League exploits with Sevilla, Kanouté also built a solid Champions League scoring record, largely accumulated during his time in France and Spain.
Seydou Doumbia – 29 goals (Young Boys, CSKA Moscow, Roma, Basel, Sporting CP)
A 2015 Africa Cup of Nations winner with Ivory Coast, Doumbia quietly built one of the more underrated African goalscoring records in the competition across five different clubs.
Victor Osimhen – 27 goals and counting (Lille, Napoli, Galatasaray)
Osimhen has already moved into this group with a penalty scored in this season’s Champions League, and remains an active player who could climb still further up this list before the campaign is out.
Photo: Richard Callis/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images
