Football fans globally are anxious in anticipation for the 2022 FIFA World
Cup, and African fans will be looking at the continent’s star players who have made it into the competition to see who will shine in the tournament.
With this in mind, seatpick scraped data from the FIFA 23 Rating Hub to establish which are the best African footballers currently active in the world, according to FIFA.
Mohamed Salah is the best active African footballer in the world. The “Egyptian King” is ranked 6th worldwide by FIFA, and has helped his club Liverpool win numerous prestigious trophies, Seatpick has revealed.
In second place is Salah’s former Liverpool teammate Sadio Mané, ranked
13th worldwide by FIFA. Mané was a crucial force in defeating Salah’s
Egypt at the final of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, bringing glory to his nation of Senegal. Now a key component in a dominant Bayern Munich squad, he is a player which many are excited to see in the upcoming World Cup.
Mane is followed by two other Senegalese players in the rankings, both
of whom play for English Premier League side Chelsea: defender Kalidou
Koulibaly, ranked 37th worldwide, and goalkeeper Edouard Mendy, ranked
47th.
Whilst Koulibaly is a more recent addition to the West London squad, Mendy has been ensuring Chelsea’s protection in goal for a couple of seasons now, helping them win the UEFA Champions League in 2021. Both players, along with Mané, illustrate the strength of this Senegalese
national side going into the World Cup.
A number of other English Premier League stars appear throughout the top
10: Manchester City’s Algerian winger Riyad Mahrez in fifth, Chelsea’s
Gabonese striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in sixth, Arsenal’s Ghanaian
midfielder Thomas Partey in ninth, and Liverpool’s Cameroonian defender
Joel Matip in tenth. Paris Saint-Germain’s Moroccan defender Achraf Hakimi (seventh) and Barcelona’s Ivorian midfielder Franck Yannick
Kessié (eighth) complete the table.
