Sadio Mané, what place in the debate of the best African player in history?
Sadio Mané won, this Sunday, January 18, 2026, the 2nd African Cup of Nations after the one won on February 6, 2022. The Nianthio is a little more legendary. A question now arises: is Sadio Mané the GOAT (Greatest Off All Time, editor’s note) of African football?
Sadio Mané did it. On a mission for Senegal, the Lion managed to lead his team to a 2nd continental title, joining the DR Congo and Algeria in the very closed circle of nations with 2 stars. Voted best player of CAN 2025, as in 2022 in Cameroon, Mané scored 2 goals, including 1 in the semi-final against Egypt, and delivered 3 assists for his last continental tournament. Obviously, after the triumph in Morocco, he skyrocketed in the very subjective ranking of the best African player in the history of football. Already, in terms of results, the child of Bambali has played in three CAN finals and won 2. At club level, he allowed Liverpool to return to the English summits after almost three decades of drought in the Premier League. He also won the Champions League, European Super Cup, domestic cups, Club World Cup. On an individual level, Mané finished 2nd for the Ballon d’Or in 2022 and 3rd in 2019, the two best rankings in the history of African football after George Weah’s coronation in 1995. The player also has two African Player of the Year titles in his bag. In CAN, he is the 5th best scorer (11) and the best passer in history (9). Established as a legend for a long time now, is the 33-year-old at the top of African football?
Before answering this question, Hervé Penaud, journalist for the daily L’Équipe in France, salutes the Senegalese’s immense career. “For me, Sadio Mané’s career is the symbol of what a career should be. If you take a young player who comes from Africa and you say to him: look at Sadio Mané, what he did, he did it because he came through intermediate clubs. He knew that the goal was not to go as high as quickly as possible, but to go as high as possible at the end of his career. And that’s exactly what happened. That is to say that, little by little, he knew how to grow, learn, and above all with a rather incredible mentality. He is a player who has worked a lot, a lot, who always thought he would succeed as soon as he was at Génération Foot, but succeed by giving himself the means. He had his gyms, his recovery rooms, his personal physiotherapist, and he is someone who is very focused on football. And so, what he managed to do is quite magnificent. It is for me, as I said, the symbol of a career. And today, to see him win a second CAN, it’s phenomenal,” first assures the journalist.
“Higher than George Weah”
Hervé Penaud continues. “So there, the best African player in history? I think that today, after winning this second CAN, he passed in front of players that I perhaps saw a little in front of him, or in any case who were close to him, that is to say Mahrez, Salah, Yaya Touré, Didier Drogba, this caliber of players. And today, frankly, I say to myself, given what he has done, I see him at the top. So, I would always put Samuel Eto’o a little above, and I believe that just behind, now, if I had a player to put, because I, when I talk about the career of an African player, I see the European career and what he has done in Africa, I would put Sadio Mané. Because two titles, two CANs, and these are not two CANs that you win thanks to others, these are two CANs that you win thanks to yourself, that is to say that each time he was a leader who was both technical and charismatic,” he explains before highlighting the immense trajectory of the number 10 of Senegal and his leadership. “What he managed to do in Morocco, by recalling his own teammates, by perhaps preventing a serious suspension in Senegal, that’s all Sadio Mané. He was exceptional, I think, this time in Morocco, you had to be very, very strong to oppose a very good Moroccan team, he knew how to be, to the point of becoming the best player of the tournament. It’s really, for me, the player. What he achieved there put him at the top of the history of African football. And then, on a more personal level, I like the idea that the greatest African players are players like Sadio Mané, that is to say, of course, technically, that goes without saying, but humanly, he’s a good guy, he’s a good person, and it’s people like that that we want to promote. For me, I would put him second and I even put him higher than George Weah. For me, it’s Sadio Mané, that’s it.”
Sadio Mané therefore has a place at the very top of African football. Sometimes heckled in recent months, the Al-Nassr player responded in the most beautiful way: on the pitch. Author of 2 goals and 3 assists during CAN 2025, he was voted best player of the competition and could even win a third African Player of the Year title in the coming months.
In the elite
Mansour Loum, editor-in-chief of Sport News Africa, a website specializing in African sport, explains the reasons why Mané remains essential despite his age. “On this CAN, he reminded everyone that he is a champion and a very great player. He had been criticized because of his poor form in recent months and his lack of impact, because in a winger role, he was no longer able to make a difference in duels against opposing defenders. Many wondered why he was still a starter and why Pape Thiaw insisted on him, but he actually has a key role. He has been repositioned tactically to be more at the heart of the game, where he excels at keeping the balls, passing, pressing thanks to his volume of play, and making the team come up and breathe at certain moments. He is one of the few who can do it in this group and he did it wonderfully. On the goal in the final, it is he who goes to the pressing and wins his duel before his backheel for Gana, who launches Pape Gueye. The same pressing which allows him to recover the ball which brings the 1st goal against Sudan. He really responded as a leader on the pitch and showed that, if he is no longer the overflow winger of the past, he remains a formidable player with an extraordinary range,” he said.
Does the journalist consider Sadio Mané to be the best African player in history? Difficult to say according to him. “Best African player in history, difficult to say, because there are two sacred monsters: Samuel Eto’o and Yaya Touré. Moreover, Eto’o has two CANs like Sadio now, which shows to what level what he has accomplished is exceptional. Sadio is also one of three players in history to win two CANs, being named best player twice. In the past, many questioned his level and his place in the ranking of African players, but now, they will have to face the facts, because he is very high in the ranking. Maybe even on the podium with Eto’o and Yaya Touré,” he thinks.
What could Sadio Mané be missing?
If he considers that Samuel Eto’o could be above Sadio Mané in the debate of the best African player in history, Hervé Penaud gives his opinion on what the Senegalese could be missing to sit alone at the top of African football. “So what is he missing?” Already, there is nothing, nothing, because frankly, this is a problem of sensitivity. Someone will perhaps tell you: I prefer Didier Drogba, I prefer Yaya Touré, I prefer Riyad Mahrez, I prefer Mohamed Salah, Aboutrika… But you already have to judge on the charts. The track record he has is phenomenal, but Samuel Eto’o also has two CANs, the Olympic Games, he has three Champions Leagues. So here, we arrive a little side by side, with the Champions League in addition to Samuel Eto’o’s side, and being in impressive clubs. And he was very impactful in all the clubs he played at. So I would still put Samuel Eto’o a little higher. But then, what he lacked, I would really be hard pressed to say, because at this level of competence and quality, you know, you are not missing much. In the game, he was perhaps more of a winger than Samuel Eto’o, so he scored a few more goals, but hey, for me, those are details. What Sadio Mané does, and then the personality he exudes, he is truly one of the great, great, great, and you are not missing anything when you are, in my eyes, the second best African player in history, or for others third, or fourth, or first even for others. You are missing nothing: you are the best, you are among the best.”
Considered the best Senegalese player in history, Sadio Mané can therefore have the pride of being seen by observers as one of the best African footballers in history. Entire generations celebrate his glory and his career, which already has an echo of eternity even though it is not even over.
Oumar Boubacar NDONGO
Read also: CAN 2025: some figures to remember
