Russia 2018 World Cup kicks off on 14 June and runs until July 15, with fans across the world looking forward to the biggest football event.
There are, however, great African players who never played at the World Cup despite having stellar careers.
5. Frederic Kanoute
Malian Fredric Kanoute will always be remembered as one of Africa’s best footballers of his time. He played for West Ham and Tottenham Hotspurs, before joining Seville where his star shone brightest.
He won numerous titles including UEFA CUP and the Copa del Rey, and was named African footballer of the year in 2007. Despite all this achievements, he never participated in football’s biggest stage.
4. Ahmed Hassan
Ahmed Hassan holds the record of the most capped male footballer in the history of the game but didn’t play a single match at a World Cup. He amassed 184 matches and has four African titles to his name. He also won the Belgian league with Anderlecht, before playing for Al Ahly where he retired.
3. Kalusha Bwalya
The Zambian had good spells playing for PSV Eindhoven, but before that, he played in Mexico, where he finished 12th for the 1996 FIFA World Player of the Year Award.He however never played in the world cup, after his team perished in a plane crash in 1993, surviving the crash because he was not on the plane.
2. Abedi PeleHe was an amazing dribbler in his playing days and is to date Ghana’s best player of all time. His star shone playing in Europe, and won the many titles including the UEFA Champions League, AFCON title and personal awards.
1. George Weah
It is amazing how the only African player to be named best player in the world never played in the world cup. The Liberian is considered by many as the best player the continent ever produced and hit his peak in 1995 when he won the best player title.
However, he could not help his country to qualify for the world cup but excelled for PSG and Inter Milan in his playing days.
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