Football is one of the most popular sports, and some of the most talented athletes in history have been seen. Many black players left an indelible mark on the sport. Here is a list of top black footballers who have gone on to dominate the game, shatter ceilings and stereotypes, and inspire millions.
Top 10 Black Footballer
1. Pele
- Nationality: Brazilian
- Position: Forward
- Era: 1950s–1970s
Pelé was one of those names that became synonymous with greatness—for the greatest footballer ever. A Brazilian forward, he is a three-time Fifa World Cup winner (1958, 1962, 1970). A genius scorer, dribbler, and playmaker, Pelé scored 1,000 or more goals before he became a household name across the globe. The late Pele, his mirror about exalted international stats while dribbling, also uses his international superstardom to advocate for peace and equality.
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2. Diego Maradona
- Nationality: Argentine
- Position: AM/FW
- Era: 1970s–1990s
For decades the question of Diego Maradona’s racial identity has been the subject of controversy. But he does not conceal his Afro-Argentine heritage. There was never disagreement, though, about Maradona’s conjuring skills in the night. He led Argentina to victory in the World Cup of 1986, and scored the now famous “Hand of God goal” and the “Goal of the Century” in the same game. He nicely started to train other players in dribble, creativity, leadership , etc; and also he became one of the legendary players of the game of football.
3. Lionel Messi
- Nationality: Argentine
- Position: forward/attacking midfielder
- Era: 2000s–present
Lionel Messi: The greatest of all time. Lionel Messi has the black pigment inherited from the great-great-grandmother on his mother’s side. He also collected plenty of silverware with Barcelona, including four Champions League titles, the last in 2015, and 10 La Liga trophies. But his dribbling, his vision, his goal-scoring-it’s unmatched.” One of the greatest players of all time, Messi helped lead Argentina to a World Cup in 2022.
4. Cristiano Ronaldo
- Nationality: Portuguese
- Position: Forward
- Era: 2000s–present
Now, there is reason to think that robbing a clothespin is not even the most intriguing information available about Ronaldo’s prequel biography, and less selling point than it should have been had Ronaldo himself been passing as African. He has not been, he has been Cape Verdean. Ronaldo is quite possibly the most complete forward the game has ever seen: the intersection of skill sets that then became something else entirely that surely is an unrepeatable blend of power, work, and goals. And for one thing, Ronaldo knows how to keep himself at the front end of the game, and a five-pack of Ballon d’Or and a garageful of Champions League titles are not going to hurt him.
5. George Weah
- Nationality: Liberian
- Position: Forward
- Era: 1980s–2000s
The only African d’Orr winner (in 1995), Weah was a blend of speed, strength, and technique, enjoying stints with clubs like Paris Saint-Germain and AC Milan. But away from it, Weah has enjoyed a charmed career that has, over decades, inscribed him in soccer’s history book as president of this West African country, the land of his birth, Liberia.
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6. Samuel Eto’o
- Nationality: Cameroonian
- Position: Forward
- Era: 1990s–2010s
One of the greatest soccer players in the history of Africa is Samuel Eto’o. Eto’o is also one of the all-time leading scorers for clubs like Barcelona and Inter Milan, where he won three Champions League trophies and countless domestic league titles. He was a two-time Africa Cup of Nations champion and a four-time African Player of the Year.
7. Thierry Henry
- Nationality: French
- Position: Forward
- Era: 1990s–2010s
Thierry Henry, the sleekest, one of the most indefatigable forwards the game has ever produced, a child of Afro-Caribbean stock. Henry is Arsenal’s all-time leading goal scorer and with the club won two Premier League titles and two FA Cups. His speed, finishing, and imagination could have haunted defenders. Internationally as well, he crowned himself champion twice, with France winning the World Cup in 1998 and Euro 2000.
8. Didier Drogba
- Nationality: Ivorian
- Position: Forward
- Era: 2000s–2010s
And if ever there was a name this list needed, it was that of a bona fide Chelsea Legend, a man who transported his wares from the land mass of Africa to the hallowed grass of yours truly, The Premier League – Didier Drogba. And revered for his bullying of defenders, for his ability to win aerial duels against opposition players, and for having knack for delivering on the biggest stages, it was Drogba who scored the winner in the 2012 Champions League final. An ex of dedicate Drogba has formerly been a social bondage ambassador in the home country of iIvoryCoast.
9. Eusebio
- Nationality: Portuguese
- Position: Forward
- Era: 1960s–1970s
The “Black Panther,” Eusebio was one of the first international superstars of African descent. He was Eusébio, the Portugal international and top scorer at the 1966 World Cup, who was born in present-day Mozambique. It was at Benfica, where he had compiled a lifetime’s worth of domestic and nearly European silverware to his name, that it was the pace, the pressing, and the unrefined certainty of the hit that had made him a folk hero.
10. Neymar Jr.
- Nationality: Brazilian
- Position: Forward
- Era: 2010s–present
Neymar, an indisputable world-class talent, one of the best of his generation, is Afro–Brazilian. Neymar, sorcerer of style, of feint and invention, has bewitched for Santos, for Barcelona, for Paris Saint-Germain, now Al-Hilal. For years well, by soccer standards now, eras Neymar’s career has been covered in controversy and injury, but there’s no denying the talent and the impact he has had on the game.
