AFCON top scorers in 2024 – the complete list
Prior to the competition in Ivory Coast, no one expected a certain striker from Equatorial Guinea to outscore the likes of Victor Osimhen, Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, Youssef En-Nesyri and many other established forwards who graced the competition.
However, it was a dream come true for Emilio Nsue who finished as the AFCON 2024 top goalscorer, even though Equatorial Guinea were knocked out of the competition in the round of 16.
In a tournament full of surprises, it was Nsue who scored five of the 119 goals netted in the African football fiesta in Ivory Coast.
Below is a complete table containing the names of the AFCON top scorers in 2024 and every other player who scored.
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2024 AFCON scorers table | |||
| Player | Country | Goals | |
| Emilio Nsue | Equatorial Guinea | 5 | |
| Gelson Dala | Angola | 4 | |
| Mostafa Mohamed | Egypt | 4 | |
| Ademola Lookman | Nigeria | 3 | |
| Mohamed Bayo | Guinea | 3 | |
| Lassine Sinayoko | Mali | 3 | |
| Bertrand Traore | Burkina Faso | 3 | |
| Agostinho Mabululu | Angola | 3 | |
| Baghdad Bounedjah | Egypt | 3 | |
| William Troost-Ekong | Nigeria | 3 | |
| Teboho Mokoena | South Africa | 2 | |
| Yoane Wissa | DR Congo | 2 | |
| Habib Diallo | Senegal | 2 | |
| Lamine Camara | Senegal | 2 | |
| Mohammed Kudus | Ghana | 2 | |
| Ryan Mendes | Cape Verde | 2 | |
| Jordan Ayew | Ghana | 2 | |
| Themba Zwane | South Africa | 2 | |
| Sebastien Haller | Ivory Coast | 2 | |
| Franck Kessie | Ivory Coast | 2 | |
| Oumar Diakité | Ivory Coast | 1 | |
| Arthur Masuaku | DR Congo | 1 | |
| Chancel Mbemba | DR Congo | 1 | |
| Evidence Makgopa | South Africa | 1 | |
| Teboho Mokoena | South Africa | 1 | |
| Nene Dorgeles | Mali | 1 | |
| Hakim Ziyech | Morocco | 1 | |
| Yali Dellahi | Mauritania | 1 | |
| Victor Osimhen | Nigeria | 1 | |
| Karl Toko Ekambi | Cameroon | 1 | |
| Ablie Jallow | Gambia | 1 | |
| Christopher Wooh | Cameroon | 1 | |
| Ebrima Colley | Gambia | 1 | |
| Iliman Ndiaye | Senegal | 1 | |
| Abdoulaye Seck | Senegal | 1 | |
| Percy Tau | South Africa | 1 | |
| Geny Catamo | Mozambique | 1 | |
| Trezeguet | Egypt | 1 | |
| Reinildo Mandava | Mozambique | 1 | |
| Benchimol | Cape Verde | 1 | |
| Pablo Ganet | Equatorial Guinea | 1 | |
| Bryan Teixeira | Cape Verde | 1 | |
| Jannick Buyla | Equatorial Guinea | 1 | |
| Iban Salvador | Equatorial Guinea | 1 | |
| Patson Daka | Zambia | 1 | |
| Simon Msuva | Tanzania | 1 | |
| Thapelo Maseko | South Africa | 1 | |
| Achraf Hakimi | Morocco | 1 | |
| Silas | DR Congo | 1 | |
| Seko Fofana | Ivory Coast | 1 | |
| Jean-Philippe Krasso | Ivory Coast | 1 | |
| Mohamed Salah | Egypt | 1 | |
| Clesio Bauque | Mozambique | 1 | |
| Omar Marmoush | Egypt | 1 | |
| Witiness Quembo | Mozambique | 1 | |
| Alexander Djiku | Ghana | 1 | |
| Jamiro Monteiro | Cape Verde | 1 | |
| Garry Rodrigues | Cape Verde | 1 | |
| Pape Gueye | Senegal | 1 | |
| Meschack Elia | DR Congo | 1 | |
| Frank Magri | Cameroon | 1 | |
| Mohamed Konate | Burkina Faso | 1 | |
| Zini | Angola | 1 | |
| Deon Hotto | Namibia | 1 | |
| Hamari Traore | Mali | 1 | |
| Gilberto | Angola | 1 | |
| Roman Saïss | Morocco | 1 | |
| Azzedine Ounahi | Morocco | 1 | |
| Youssef En-Nesyri | Morocco | 1 | |
| Kings Kangwa | Zambia | 1 | |
| Josete Miranda | Equatorial Guinea | 1 | |
| Ze Turbo | Guinea-Bissau | 1 | |
| Bebe | Cape Verde | 1 | |
| Kevin Lenini | Cape Verde | 1 | |
| Sadio Mane | Senegal | 1 | |
| Ismaila Sarr | Senegal | 1 | |
| Simon Adingra | Ivory Coast | 1 | |
| Jean-Charles Castelletto | Cameroon | 1 | |
| Aguibou Camara | Guinea | 1 | |
| Aboubakary Koita | Mauritania | 1 | |
| Sidi Bouna Amar | Mauritania | 1 | |
| Hamza Rafia | Tunisia | 1 | |
AFCON top scorers of all-time
The Africa Cup of Nations is a celebration of African football excellence. A competition that millions of football fans, players and pundits alike look forward to every two years.
In the midst of all the excitement, shocking results and great goals, some players have etched their names in the annals of the competition's goal-scoring history.
But who are these players that have made the exclusive list of the AFCON top scorers of all-time?
Cameroonian legend Samuel Eto'o is the all-time top scorer in AFCON history with 18 goals.
The former CAF Player of the Year netted in all six of his AFCON tournament appearances, scoring five times in both the 2006 and 2008 editions of the competition.
Ivorian legendary striker Laurent Pokou and Nigeria's revered forward Rashidi Yekini scored 14 and 13 AFCON goals respectively to place second and third on the all-time list.
Here's the list of AFCON top scorers of all-time, their country, and number of goals:
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AFCON top scorers of all-time | |||
| Player | Country | Goals | |
| Samuel Eto'o | Cameroon | 18 | |
| Laurent Pokou | Ivory Coast | 14 | |
| Rashidi Yekini | Nigeria | 13 | |
| Hassan El-Shazly | Egypt | 12 | |
| Patrick Mboma | Cameroon | 11 | |
| Hossam Hassan | Egypt | 11 | |
| Didier Drogba | Ivory Coast | 11 | |
| Ndaye Mulamba | DR Congo | 10 | |
| Francileudo Santos | Tunisia | 10 | |
| Joel Tiehi | Ivory Coast | 10 | |
Past AFCON Golden Boot winners
Many African football stars have won the AFCON golden boot since the tournament's inception in 1957.
The hunger to finish as the top scorer in each edition of the tournament has driven participating players to put in their best up-front for their nations.
In turn, this increased the competitiveness amongst several stars aiming for the coveted AFCON Golden Boot, which in some years were shared, as two to four players could finish with the same number of goals.
Without further ado, these are the names of previous AFCON golden boot winners, year and country of origin:
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Past AFCON Golden Boot Winners | |||
| Year | Winner | Goals | Country |
| 1957 | Ad El Diba | 5 | Egypt |
| 1959 | Mahmoud Al Gohari | 3 | Egypt |
| 1962 | Mohamed Al Badawi and Worku Mengistu | 3 | Egypt and Ethiopia |
| 1963 | Ahmed Al Chazli | 6 | Egypt |
| 1965 | Abbrey Osei Kofi & Eustace Mangli | 3 | Ghana & Ivory Coast |
| 1968 | Laurent Pokou | 6 | Ivory Coast |
| 1970 | Laurent Pokou | 8 | Ivory Coast |
| 1972 | Salif Keita | 5 | Mali |
| 1974 | Mulamba Ndaye | 9 | Zambia |
| 1976 | William Njo Lea | 4 | Guinea |
| 1978 | Phillip Omondi | 4 | Uganda |
| 1980 | Segun Odegbami | 3 | Nigeria |
| 1982 | George Al Hassan | 4 | Ghana |
| 1984 | Taher Abou Zeid | 4 | Egypt |
| 1986 | Roger Milla & Abdoulaye Traore | 4 | Cameroon & Ivory Coast |
| 1988 | Lakhdar Belloumi, Roger Milla, Gamal Abdelhamid & Abdoulaye Traore | 4 | Algeria, Cameroon, Egypt & Ivory Coast |
| 1990 | Djamel Menad | 4 | Algeria |
| 1992 | Rashidi Yekini | 4 | Nigeria |
| 1994 | Rashidi Yekini | 5 | Nigeria |
| 1996 | Kalusha Bwalya | 5 | Zambia |
| 1998 | Hossam Hassan & Benni McCarthy | 7 | Egypt & South Africa |
| 2000 | Shaun Bartlett | 5 | South Africa |
| 2002 | Patrick Mboma, Salomon Olembe & Julius Aghahowa | 3 | Cameroon & Nigeria |
| 2004 | Patrick Mboma, Frederic Kanoute, Austin Okocha, Youssef Mokhtari & Francileudo dos Santos | 4 | Cameroon, Mali, Nigeria, Morocco & Tunisia |
| 2006 | Samuel Eto’o, Ahmed Hassan & Francileudo dos Santos | 4 | Cameroon, Egypt & Tunisia |
| 2008 | Samuel Eto’o | 5 | Cameroon |
| 2010 | Mohamed Nagui | 5 | Egypt |
| 2012 | Manucho, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Didier Drogba, Cheick Tidiane Diabate, Houcine Kharja, Chris Katongo & Emmanuel Mayuka | 3 | Angola, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Mali, Morocco & Zambia |
| 2013 | Emmanuel Emenike & Mubarak Wakaso | 4 | Nigeria & Ghana |
| 2015 | Ahmed Akaichi, Andre Ayew, Dieumerci Mbokani, Javier Balboa, Thievy Biffouma | 3 | Tunisia, Ghana, DR Congo, Equatorial Guinea & Congo |
| 2017 | Junior Kabananga | 3 | DR Congo |
| 2019 | Odion Ighalo | 5 | Nigeria |
| 2021 | Vincent Aboubakar | 8 | Cameroon |
| 2023 | Emilio Nsue | 5 | Equatorial Guinea |
Africa Cup of Nations – when did it start?
The Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) is the most important football competition in Africa.
It was first held in 1957 when four countries: Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia and South Africa were scheduled to participate. However, the latter was disqualified due to the apartheid regime prevalent in the Rainbow Nation at the time.
The situation meant that just three nations played the first edition of the tournament in which Egypt emerged as champions.
Egypt's Raafat Attia is the first-ever player to score a goal in the AFCON. He achieved this feat in 1957 when the Egyptians faced Sudan in the opening match.
Since 1957, the competition has expanded greatly, which has required the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to conduct qualifying rounds in order to determine the teams that partake in the main tournament.
So far, there have been 34 editions of the Nations Cup which have taken place biennially since 1968. Although, it was switched to odd-numbered years from 2013 so as not to interfere with the FIFA World Cup.
Egypt have been the most successful nation in AFCON history, having won seven times. Cameroon are next with five titles, and Ghana are third in that regard with four titles.
Ivory Coast are the current champions, they defeated Nigeria 2-1 in the final of the 2023 edition.
