AFCON 2023 top scorers: Salah and Osimhen among the favourites

Cameron Smith
Cameron Smith
  • 4 Jan 2024 05:30 CST
  • 5 min read
Mohamed Salah, Victor Osimhen
© ProShots

The 2023 Africa Cup of Nations is nearly upon us, with the continent’s best teams and players ready to do battle over a one-month tournament to see which nation emerges triumphant.

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The tournament was due to be held last summer, but rain issues in Ivory Coast ensured it was delayed until January 2024.

As a result, many top players in European leagues have been forced to leave their domestic clubs mid-season in order to compete for their countries. Premier League stars Andre Onana, Mohamed Salah and Nicolas Jackson are among those who are set to miss club fixtures for AFCON.

Morocco head into the tournament as favourites following their incredible run to the World Cup semi-finals in late 2022, but Ghana, Senegal, Algeria, Nigeria, Cameroon and hosts Ivory Coast are also considered likely to lift the trophy on 11 February.

Although the tournament is no longer blessed with stars such as Jay-Jay Okocha and Didier Drogba, there are still some big-names set to be in action at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.

As a result, the prize of ending the tournament as AFCON’s top goal-scorer is a highly-coveted one.

Cameroon’s Vincent Aboubakar won the award in 2022 (following a delay to the 2021 edition) after he bagged eight goals in just seven games as his nation finished third.

Mohamed Salah will be looking to win the 2023 AFCON Golden Boot
© ProShots - Mohamed Salah will be looking to win the 2023 AFCON Golden Boot

This year, he will be hoping to retain his crown, but will face serious competition from a number of stars.

Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, Victor Osimhen, Nicolas Jackson, Riyad Mahrez, Youssef En-Nesyri, Sebastien Haller, Inaki Williams, Mohammed Kudus and Hakim Ziyech are among the favourites to end 2023 AFCON as the top-scorer.

Africa Cup of Nations all-time top goal-scorers

PlayerCountryGoals
1. Samuel Eto'oCameroon18
2. Laurent PokouIvory Coast14
3. Rashidi YekiniNigeria13
4. Hassan El-ShazlyEgypt12
5. Patrick MbomaCameroon11
= Hossam HassanEgypt11
= Didier DrogbaIvory Coast11
8. Ndaye MulambaDR Congo (Zaire)10
= Francileudo SantosTunisia10
= Joel TiehiIvory Coast10

Cameroon legend Samuel Eto'o is the top goal-scorer in Africa Cup of Nations history with 18 strikes in the competition. The ex-Barcelona, Inter and Chelsea forward scored in all six of his AFCON tournament appearances, including five in both 2006 and 2008.

Chelsea legend Didier Drogba is also included in the top 10 list of all-time AFCON goal-scorers thanks to his 11 goals in the competition. He is not the highest-scoring Ivory Coast player in Africa Cup of Nations history, however. Legendary striker Laurent Pokou netted 14 times in the tournament - the second-most ever.

What are the AFCON Golden Boot tiebreaker rules?

If two or more players finish level on goals at the top of the standings, the Golden Boot goes to the player with the most assists.

Africa Cup of Nation Golden Boot winners

TournamentPlayerGoals
1957Ad El Diba (Egypt)5
1959Mahmoud El-Gohary (Egypt)3
1962Two players3
1963Hassan El-Shazly (Egypt)6
1965Three players3
1968Laurent Pokou (Ivory Coast)6
1970Laurent Pokou (Ivory Coast)8
1972Fantamady Keita (Mali)5
1974Ndaye Mulamba (Zaire/DR Congo)9
1976Mamadou Aliou Keïta (Guinea)4
1978Three players4
1980Two players3
1982George Alhassan (Ghana)4
1984Taher Abouzeid (Egypt)4
1986Roger Milla (Cameroon)4
1988Four players2
1990Djamel Menad (Algeria)4
1992Rashidi Yekini (Nigeria)4
1994Rashidi Yekini (Nigeria)5
1996Kalusha Bwalya (Zambia)5
1998Two players7
2000Shaun Bartlett (South Africa)5
2002Three players3
2004Four players4
2006Samuel Eto'o (Cameroon)5
2008Samuel Eto'o (Cameroon)5
2010Gedo (Egypt)5
2012Seven players3
2013Two players4
2015Five players3
2017Junior Kabananga (DR Congo)3
2019Odion Ighalo (Nigeria)5
2021Vincent Aboubakar (Cameroon)8

Mengistu Worku (Ethiopia) and Badawi Abdel Fattah (Egypt) both scored three goals in 1962.

Eustache Mangle (Ivory Coast), Osei Kofi (Ghana) and Ben Acheampong Simmons (Ghana) each scored three goals in 1965.

Opoku Afriyie (Ghana), Phillip Omondi (Uganda) and Segun Odegbami (Nigeria) each scored three goals in 1978.

Segun Odegbami (Nigeria) and Khalid Labied (Morocco) both scored three goals in 1980.

Lakhdar Belloumi (Algeria), Abdoulaye Traoré (Ivory Coast), Roger Milla (Cameroon) and Gamal Abdelhamid (Egypt) each scored two goals in 1988.

Hossam Hassan (Egypt) and Benni McCarthy (South Africa) both scored seven goals in 1998.

Patrick M'Boma (Cameroon), Salomon Olembé (Cameroon) and Julius Aghahowa (Nigeria) each scored three goals in 2002.

Patrick M'Boma (Cameroon), Jay-Jay Okocha (Nigeria), Frédéric Kanouté (Mali) and Francileudo Santos (Tunisia) each scored four goals in 2004.

Manucho (Angola), Houssine Kharja (Morocco), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon), Christopher Katongo (Zambia), Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast), Emmanuel Mayuka (Zambia) and Cheick Diabaté (Mali) all scored three goals in 2012.

Emmanuel Emenike (Nigeria) and Mubarak Wakaso (Ghana) both scored four goals in 2013.

Thievy Bifouma (Congo), André Ayew (Ghana), Dieumerci Mbokani (DR Congo), Ahmed Akaïchi (Tunisia) and Javier Balboa (Equatorial Guinea) all scored three goals in 2023.

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