CONCACAFA Greatest All-Time Team

Two CONCACAFA met in the second round of the 2002 World Cup Finals

Please also see my All-Time World Cup Team Index.

All-CONCACAF
USA, Mexico, Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador
Central America without Costa Rica and Honduras.

Canada, Trinidad & Tobago
Canada or Canadian born Players
Jamaica/Jamaican Diaspora, Caribbean Countries.

I did not want to develop an All-CONCACAFA team.  I preferred doing more in depth and detailed all-time teams.  However, during a trip to Africa, I decided to do an All-African team. Afterward, I continued with an All-CONCACAFA team.  I am unlikely to do an All-Europe or South American team.

The Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football is better known as CONCACAFA.  It is  is the third-most successful FIFA confederation. Both the United States and Mexico have hosted successful World Cup Finals.  The USMNT finished 3rd in the 1930 World Cup Finals.  Cuba, Costa Rica and Mexico have reached the quarterfinal of the World Cup Finals.

Landon Donovan vs Rafael Marquez 

Team

GK: Keylor Navas (Costa Rica)
After starting out at Saprissa Keylor Navas moved to Albacete in 2010, and then to Levante in La Liga.  After a great performance with Levante, he won the La Liga Keeper of the Year award for 2014 with Levante.  Then, he led Costa Rica to the quarter-final of the World Cup in Brazil.  After the World Cup Finals, he earned a transfer to Real Madrid.  With Real Madrid, he won three Champions League title as their starting keeper. He also played in the 2018 World Cup Finals.

 Keylor Navas 

GK: Brad Friedel (USA)
Brad Friedel is the current holder of the English Premier League record for most consecutive appearances with 310.  He played with Liverpool, Blackburn Rovers, Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspurs.  He is one of the oldest player to start a game at the English Premiership.  He also played for clubs in Denmark and Turkey.  He earned 82 caps.  He represented the USA at the World Cup in 1994, 1998 and 2002. He is best remembered for reaching the quarterfinal in 2002. 

GK: Tim Howard (USA)
Tim Howard earned over 120 caps since 2002.  He led the USA to the 2nd round at the World Cup Finals in 2014 with stunning performances throughout the tournament.  Howard started his career with the North Jersey Imperials before making a move to the MetroStars in the MLS. His appearances soon attracted the attention of Manchester United, who signed him in 2003. He moved to Everton in 2007 where he became a star player and played until 2016. He is now with Colorado Rapids.

RB: Steve Cherundolo (USA)
Steve Cherundolo spent a year at the University of Portland before going to play in Germany. He was the captain of Hannover 96 of the German Bundesliga, where he spent his entire club career.  He later set the team record for Bundesliga appearances.  He played for the United States men's national soccer team at the 2006 and 2010 FIFA World Cups.

RB/LB/CB: Frank Sinclair (Jamaica) 

Frank Sinclair started his career with Chelsea where he spent 8 seasons. He won the FA Cup in 1996-1997.  And he won a League Cup with Leicester Town in 2000.  He played for many clubs all over England. His performance in England led him to be call-up by Jamaica for the 1998 World Cup Finals in 1998. He was one of 7 English-born Jamaican players on the team. He played 28 caps for Jamaica between 1998 and 2003.

CB/DM/RB/LB: Carlos Salcido

Carlos Salcido played 124 times for Mexico between 2004 and 2014. He played in three World Cups: 2006, 2010, 2014, and three Gold Cups: 2005, 2007, 2011.  He was a part of the Mexican team that won the gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics.  He started his career with Guadalajara. He also found successes with PSV Eindhoven, Fulham and UANL.  He had two stints with Guadalajara the ckub where he started his career in 2001.

Carlos Salcido

CB/DM: Thomas Dooley (USA)

Thomas Dooley was the son of a US serviceman stationed in Germany and a German mother.  He won the Bundesliga with Kaiserslautern in 1990-1991 and then the UEFA Cup with Schalke 04 in 1996-1997.  He was capped 81 times between 1992 and 1999.  He was a key player as the United States reached the 2nd round at the 1994 World Cup Finals and was the captain at the World Cup in 1998.  He was the U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year in 1993. He is a Members of the National Soccer Hall of Fame.

CB:  Rafael Marquez (Mexico) 
Rafael Marquez is one of the best players in Mexico's history.  He started his career with Atlas before moving to play in Europe, notably with Monaco and Barcelona.  He was the first Mexican to win the European Champions' League. He is the first player ever to captain his national team in four consecutive World Cup Finals, captaining Mexico in the 2002, 2006, 2010, and 2014. He had a total of 146 caps for Mexico between 1997 and 2018.  He won two Gold Cup in 2003 and 2011.

CB:  Claudio Suarez (Mexico)
Nicknamed "El Emperador",  Claudio Suarez is the Mexico's cap record holder with 178(third all-time in the world).  He went to three World Cup Finals, where he had a big role in 1994 and 1998.  ISuárez began his club career with UNAM Pumas, where he played from 1988 to 1996 where he became champion in 1991. He moved to Guadalajara as an important piece for the 1996 Apertura, and remained there for 3 years  He played Chivas USA in the MLS between 2006 and 2009.

LW/LB: Alphonso Davis (Canada)

Davies was the first player born in the 2000s to play in a Major League Soccer match. Davies joined Bayern in January 2019 from MLS side Vancouver Whitecaps FC on a contract lasting for a then-MLS record transfer fee.  Davies was named the Bundesliga Rookie of the Season for 2019–20.[6] In that season he also was part of the team winning the continental treble after Bayern won the Bundesliga, the UEFA Champions League and the DFB-Pokal.

Alphonso Davies

LB: Emilio Izaguirre (Honduras)
Emilio Izaguirre started his career with Montagua.  He was a key player with Celtic in Scotland from 2010 to 2017.  He won the Scotland's Premiership Player of the Year, the SFWA Player of the Year and SPFA Player of the Year and Celtic Player of the Year in 2010, making a sweep of all individual award in Scotland. He also played a single season in Saudi Arabia for Al Fayha. For Honduras, he earned over 90 caps.  He went to the World Cup Finals in 2010 and 2014.

DM: Wilson Palacios  (Honduras)

Wilson Palacios started with Olimpia at home.  He played in the English Premiership between 2007 and 2015 for Wigan, Tottenham Hotspurs and Stoke City. He also had a spell in the MLS with  Miami. He had three brothers who also played for Honduras.  He himself earned 97 caps. He went to 2010 and 2014 World Cup Finals.

DM: Gilberto Yearwood (Honduras)
Gilberto Yearwood is regarded as Honduras' greatest ever player.  He spent 10 seasons playing in Spain between 1977 and 1986.  He played for for Elche CF, Real Valladolid, CD Tenerife and Celta de Vigo. At home, he played with Real Espana, C.D. Olimpia, F.C. Motagua and C.D. Marathón. He made his international debut at the 1982 World Cup Finals in Spain. He had 46 caps for Honduras between 1982 and 1993. He scored his only goal for Honduras in 1991 against Jamaica.

Gilberto Yearwood 

CM/DM: Claudio Reyna (USA)

Claudio Reyna was a star in the late 1990's.  He played college soccer with University of Virginia, winning three NCAA titles in three years.  He started his career with Bayer Leverkusen.  While playing with Wolfsburg, he became the first American-born player to captain an European club team. He also played for Rangers and Manchester City.  He earned 112 caps.  He was on 4 World Cup teams.  In 2002,  he was named in the World Cup all-tournament team after the USMNT reached the quaterfinal.  

AM:  Luis de la Fuente (Mexico)
Luis de la Fuente is the first Mexican player to play in four countries (Mexico, Spain, Paraguay and Argentina).  After he played in the WC in 1934, he went to play in Spain with Racing Club de Santander.  He also played with Club Atlético Corrales in Paraguay and Vélez Sarsfield in Argentina.  He was widely considered to be one of Mexico's greatest players. 

AM/FW: Magico Gonzalez (El Salvador)

His real name is Jorge Alberto Gonzalez. Some said that he would be ranked among the greatest players ever if he was born Brazilian or Argentine.   He played for ANTEL and Independiente Nacional 1906 over the course of two seasons, before moving to Club Deportivo Fútbolistas Asociados Santanecos. He was a star at La Liga during the 1980's.  He mainly played for Cadiz. He led El Salvador to the first and only World Cup Finals in 1982.  He had 62 caps.

Magico Gonzalez

FW: Cuauhtemoc Blanco (Mexico)
Cuauhtemoc Blanco was part of the Mexican national team at France '98, Korea-Japan 2002 and South Africa 2010.  He won the Silver Ball and the Silver Shoe awards in the 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup, where Mexico won. He is tied with Ronaldinho as the all-time leading Confederations Cup goalscorer.  He is also remembered for the Cuauhtemiña (also spelled Cuauhteminha), or Blanco Trick, which he performed notably at the 1998 World Cup.

SS/AM: Landon Donovan (USA)
Landon Donovan is perhaps the greatest American player of the modern era.  He is the all-time leading scorer for the US national team.  He represented the USA at three World Cup Finals.  In 2002, he was named the best young player at the World Cup Finals. He was Honda Player of the Year for 6 times and US Soccer Athlete of the Year for 4 times and numerous awards in MLS.  He had a brief spell with Leverkusen before returning to MLS.  With LA Galaxy, he won four MLS Cup.

FW: Alejandro Morera Soto (Costa Rica)
Alejandro Morera Soto started his career with Alajuelense in 1925. He first joined Espanyol before joining Barcelona FC in 1933. He was a part of the legendary Barcelona of the 1930's, where he was their top scorer for the 1933-1934 season.  He earned the nickname "El fenomeno costarricense" ("The Costa Rican phenomenon") in Barcelona. He scored over 60 goals for them.  He also played for Hercules and La Havre.  He played 7 times and scored 6 goals for Costa Rica.

FW/AM: Clint Dempsey (USA)

Clint Dempsey was perhaps the most successful American-born outfielder playing in Europe.  He was best remembered for playing for Fulham between 2007 and 2012.  He was their top-scorer for two seasons.  He was their Player of the Season twice.  He has also played for New England Revolution and Tottenham Hotspur. At the time of writing, he plays for Seattle Sounders in the MLS.  He has over 130 caps and played in the World Cup Finals of 2006, 2010 and 2014.

Clint Dempsey

ST: Dwight Yorke (T&T) 
Best remembered for his stint with Manchester United.  In 1998-199 season,  Manchester United won the triple(the Premier League, the FA Cup and the  Champions' League), where he was both the top scorer in the Preimership  and the Champions' League. Along with Russell Latapy and Pat Jennings, Yorke holds the record number of participations in different World Cup competitions, including qualifying stages – six in total (1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006 and 2010).

ST: Julio Dely Valdes (Panama)
Julio Dely Valdes is considered to be Panama's greatest player.  Dely Valdés began his professional career in 1987 with Deportivo Paraguayo of Argentina with his brother.  He then moved to Club Nacional de Football in Uruguay. He was best-remembered for his stints with Paris Saint-Germain, Cagliari, Real Oviedo and Malaga, where he was a prolific scorer for each of them. He won the Cup Winners' Cup with PSG. 

ST: Hugo Sanchez (Mexico)
Hugo Sanchez is considered to be the best Mexican player of all-time. He is remembered for his career in Spain where he played for both Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid.  He won 5 straight Pichichi title in Spain.  With Real Madrid, he won five consecutive league titles (from the 1985-86 to 1989-90 season), the Copa del Rey in 1989, and the UEFA Cup in 1986, playing alongside La Quinta del Buitre .  The team was the dominant team in Spain during the 1980's. His nickname was "Hugoal".

Hugo Sanchez

Honorable Mention
Salvador Reyes (Mexico), Carlos Salcido (Mexico), Horacio Casarín (Mexico), David Suazo (Honduras), Paulo Wanchope (Costa Rica),  Rolando Fonseca (Costa Rica), Christian Gamboa (Costa Rica),  Mauricio Solis (Costa Rica), Eddie Pope (USA), DaMarcus Beasley (USA), Tab ramos (USA), Billy Gonsalves (USA), Michael Bradley (USA), Shaka Hislop (T&T), Craig Forest (Canada), Kasey Keller (USA), Luis Gabelo Conejo (Costa Rica), Jorge Campos (Mexico),  Alberto García Aspe (Mexico), Andres Guardado (Mexico), Javier Hernandez (Mexico), Ricardo Osorio (Mexico), Wes Morgan (Jamaica), Ricardo Gardner (Jamaica) Antonio Carbajal (Mexico), Juan Tuñas ( Cuba), Wilson Palacios (Honduras), David Suazo (Honduras), José Cardona (Honduras), Allan Costly (Honduras), Oscar "Conejo" Sánchez (Guatemala), Jorge Dely Valdés (Panama),  Bruce Wilson (Canada).

Squad Explaination
-- This team was created in 2019.  I did a review in June, 2023 after I finished with Mexico, Canada, Costa Rica and the United States.

-- This blog team is very "Eurocentric".  Most players were selected for their club careers in Europe. I also believed that I should spread the team around different countries with better representation from each country.  

-- Hugo Sanchez (Mexico) is probably the greatest player from this region.  He was known as "Hugoal".  Some said that Magico Gonzalez (El Salvador) would be a bigger star if he was from Brazil or Argentina or if he played for a big club in Europe.  Julio Dely Valdes and Dwight Yorke were also big stars in Europe when they were active players.
-- As expected, the team is dominated by American and Mexican players.  The USA-Mexico rivalry is one of the most fierce rivalry in national team football.
-- Costa Rica reached the quarterfinal of the 2014 World Cup Finals before losing to Netherlands in a penalty shootout.  Only Keylor Navas was selected into this team.  I feel that the other players have not accomplished as much as some of the players selected.  The United States and Mexico also did well in previous World Cup Finals.

-- The IFFHS selected the following players for their All-Time Men CONCACAF  dream team: Antonio Carbajal (Mexico), Carlos Salcedo (Mexico), Claudio Suarez (Mexico) , Rafael Marquez (Mexico), Andres Guardado (Mexico), Bryan Ruiz (Costa Rica), Raul Cardenas (Mexico), Luis de la Fuente (Mexico), Julio Cesar Dely Valdez (Panama), Hugo Sanchez (Mexico) and Clint Dempsey (USA).

They also created a Team B: Keylor Navas (Costa Rica) ,Gustavo Pena (Mexico), Marcelo Balboa (USA), Horacio Casarin (Mexico), Ramon Ramirez (Mexico), Thomas Dooley (USA), Michael Bradley (USA), Cuauhtémoc Blanco (Mexico), Hirbing Lozano  (Mexico), Salvator Reyes (Mexico) and Carlos Hermosillo (Mexico).

-- John Barnes, Owen Hargreaves and John van 't Schip probably made this team if they played for a CONCACAF national team.  They were all born in the region.

Goalkeepers

-- I took the three goalkeepers with the most decorated career playing in Europe.

--  Keylor Navas helped Costa Rica to reach the quarterfinal of the 2014 World Cup Finals.  He also won two Champions League titles as the starting keeper for Real Madrid.  He has achieved more than any other players from this conference. 

-- Brad Friedel led the Americans to the quarterfinal of the 2002 World Cup Finals.  He became the first goalkeeper to save two penalties in a World Cup Finals outside the shootout since 1974.  He also holds the Premier League record for most consecutive games played with 310.  During his prime, he had to share the duty with Kasey Keller.  They were rated almost equally, but Keller did not shrine in a World Cup Finals, which put him out of this team. Instead, I took another American, Tim Howard. He had a great tournament at the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup as well as the 2014 World Cup Finals. He also held the record of international appearances for an American goalkeeper.  His club career in England also spoke for itself.  I did not have a preference for number 2 or 3 on the team.

-- Shaka Hislop (T&T), Craig Forest (Canada), Kasey Keller (USA), Luis Gabelo Conejo (Costa Rica), Jorge Campos (Mexico), Guillermo Ochoa (Mexico) and Antonio Carbajal (Mexico) were some of the great keepers from this region.

Defenders

-- The rightback position was weaker. Gustavo Pena (Mexico) was the captain of Mexico in both 1966 and 1970 World Cup Finals.  I mistook him as a righback in 2019 because IFFHS placed him there on their Mexico All-Time team. Both Pascal Chimbonda and Jocelyn Angloma were allowed to play for Guadeloupe while representing France because Guadeloupe is not a FIFA member.  Both made my all-time team for Caribbean nations for special exceptional cases. But I decided to select CONCACAF players eligible for full international only for this blog team.  So I did not consider them.  Gilberto Martínez (Costa Rica) could also play in this position.  

-- Steve Cherundolo (USA) had a stunning career with Hanover 96 while Ricardo Osorio played well with VfB Stuttgart. Not many rightbacks have done better in an European league.  Carlos Salcido might be a better player than both of them, and he did win the Bundesliga Team of the Year as a rightback. I took him over Osorio. Frank Yallop (Canada), Paul Caligiuri (USA), Christian Gamboa (Costa Rica) and Allan Costly (Honduras) were also considered.  Frank Sinclair also played as a rightback. He began his career asa leftback, but he was a much better central defender or rightback.

-- Players not from the bigger European or South American countries seldom won Player of the Award. Emilio Izaguirre won the Scotland's Premiership Player of the Year, the SFWA Player of the Year and SPFA Player of the Year and Celtic Player of the Year in 2010, making a sweep of all individual award in Scotland. He did it as a fullback.  So in 2019, I took him as one of my leftbacks, but I had second thoughts in 2023. Is he better than Ramon Ramirez?  Ramirez started as a midfielder, but Miguel Mejía Barón decided to move him to the leftback where he shone the most. In the end, I stayed with the Honduran.

Emilio Izaguirre

-- In 2019, Bruce Wilson was selected because of his NASL career.  There was some sort of romance about that era.  He was a six-time all-star selection in an era when NASL was full of international star players. He also led Canada in the 1986 World Cup Finals, which was historical significance.  However, by 2023, Alphonso Davis replaced him. He has outdone many players in the region.  He helped Bayern Munich to win the Champions' League in 2020. He also led Canada to their first World Cup since 1986. 

-- DaMarcus Beasley was converted into a left wingback late in his career.  I was unsure if he was a better leftback than the other candidates, but he was a better overall player.  He was the first American to play in 5 World Cup cycle.  Andrés Guardado also operated as a left wingback.  But I left both of them off the team.

-- Rafael Marquez was probably the greatest Mexican defender and the most decorated Mexican player playing in Europe since Hugo Sanchez.  He is the first Mexican to win the European Champions' League.   Claudio Suarez is the Mexico's cap record holder with 178 (third all-time in the world). He captained the 1999 Confederation Cup team.  Then, we looked into two American central defenders. Both Marcelo Bilboa and Thomas Dooley were selected by IFFHS for their CONCACAF All-Time team for their B team.  I took Dooley over Bilboa because of his vast experience playing in the Bundesliga. Eddie Pope and Carlos Bocanegra were also considered. The four players were close, I felt.

-- I seriously looked into Gustavo Pena (Mexico) and Carlos Salcido.  Salcido was considered to be one of Mexico's greatest fullbacks. He started his career as a centreback and played most of it as left-back and rightback, then converted to defensive midfielder and ended it as centreback. I had yet to decide his best position. For my Mexico All-Time team, I took him as a leftback, but he could easily make this team as centreback.

--Wes Morgan was the captain of Leicester when they won their Premiership, but Frank Sinclair's career in the Premiership was longer.  In 2019, I went with Morgan for the last central defender, but I went with Sinclair during my review of the team in 2023.  He could also play rightback.  Selecting a Jamaican was on my agenda.

Midfielders/Wingers

-- Cuban-born Chus Alonso played for Spain.  He never played for Cuba, which made him ineligible. José Ramón Sauto spent 11 seasons with Real Madrid in the 1930's. He was the first Mexican-born player to play in Spain.  Sometimes, historians credited Luis de la Fuente as the first Mexican who played professionally outside Mexico because Sauto came to Spain at a young age.  His Mexican roots were sometimes forgotten. According to a report, Sauto was detained during the Spanish Civil War.  One of the guards who was a Real Madrid fans recognized him and allowed him to escape. I did not consider him.  
-- The IFFHS put Raul Cardenas as a midfielder for their All-Time team for CONCACAF and Mexico, but he was mainly a centreback.  So I did not select him.  Instead, I went for Gilberto Yearwood who was Honduras' greatest player. 

-- In 2019, I took Wilson Palacios over Michael Bradley,  Ramon Ramirez and Pavel Pardo largely the team needed more players not from Mexico or the United States.  He was of course more defensive. Bradley with his European experience might be more important, but Palacios might be better than Mauricio Solis (Costa Rica).

-- Claudio Reyna made the Team of the Tournament at the 2002 World Cup Finals.  He could drop deeper in the midfield.  He edged out Michael Bradley and Celso Borges.

Claudio Reyna

--  For attack midfielders, I first took Jorge “El Mágico” González.  El Salvador had a horrible World Cup Finals in 1982, but he had a wonderful club career in Spain after the World Cup.  Many people said that he could become the best player in his generation, but his transfer to a bigger club failed to materialize.  He never got the exposure outside La Liga.  And if he was Brazilian, people would notice him more. Then, I selected took Luis de la Fuente. He was the first Mexican who played professionally outside Mexico. He was basically Mexico's first idol in football.  Alberto García Aspe and Andres Guardado were the other top Mexican attack midfielders on my honorable mention.  Tab Ramos (USA) also made honorable mention.

-- I did not have much wide players.  No natural winger was selected except for Alphonso Davies. Christian Pulisic needed to wait his turn.  At the time of writing, he is still young.  Hirving Lozano already won CONCACAF Player of the year in 2018, and he was named in the IFFHS CONCACAF Team of the Decade for 2011-2020.  He was on the second team for their CONCACAF Dream team.  He was listed as a left wing, but most of his highlights showed him on the right.  Against Germany in the 2018 World Cup Finals, he operated on the left and became the Man of the Match in a famous upset.  He could cover both sides of the wings.  Costa Rica also produced Herman Medford, Joel Campbell and Bryan Ruiz who could play on the left.  I would love to have Jamaican-born John Barnes or Canadian-born John van 't Schip.  In the end, I left the wing position without a true winger.

-- On the left, Clint Dempsey could be deployed there.  He is the joint All-Time leading scorer for the USA.  

Forwards

-- Along with Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey was probably the greatest American player in the modern era.  Both were tied for all-time leading scorer for the United States.  Dempsey made second time for IFFHS All-Time Men CONCACAF Dream team, but they snubbed Donovan.

-- Roy Wegerle's club career in England was better than some of the players selected.  He was a star in England, but his impact to the USMNT was limited.  Perhaps, the prime of his club career was played before he became an American citizen.  In 1994, he had a bench role in the World Cup Finals.  By 1998, he barely made it to the team.  So I left him off my USA All-Time team and this team.  

-- I took Alejandro Morera Soto (Costa Rica) over compatriot Paulo Wanchope and Bryan Ruiz.  Basically, I feel that the team needs an older player to balance out.  He scored 63 goals in just 76 matches for FC Barcelona.  In Spain, he was known as the "Costa Rican phenomenon".  

-- Dwight Yorke (T&T) was a key player as Manchester United won their triple crown in 1999.  He won the Premier League Player of the Season that year. He was a famous player at his times.

Dwight Yorke 

-- Julio Dely Valdes has a twin brother Jorge Dely Valdés and an older brother Armando Dely Valdés.  His career in Europe was among the best in the region.  He was Malaga All-Time leading scorer.  He also made the first team of IFFHS All-Time Men CONCACAF  dream team.
-- Hugo Sanchez won 5 straight Pichichi title in Spain.  No explanation is needed for him.  Cuauhtemoc Blanco helped Mexico to win the Confederation Cup in 1999, the highest honour for Mexico.  I also selected him for his "Blanco Trick".  He added "fun" to the game of football. I saw this as a "contribution" to the game.  Javier Hernandez was Mexico's All-Time leading scorer, but I went with other players.

-- David Suazo spent 13 years playing over 300 games in Italy.  He was the co-winner of the Serie A Foreign Player of the year in 2006 which he shared it with Kaka. I left him on honorable mention only.  José Cardona went to play in Spain during the 1950's and 1960's. was one of the first player from Honduras to star for a club in Europe.  He played with Atlético Madrid in the 1960's, scoring the winning goal at the Copa del Generalísimo in 1964. Both made honorable mention.

Formation

Africa "CAF" Greatest All-Time Team

This blogger Artur Yanturin of Russia copied many of my blog teams.  This blog was one of them.  It was my Russia All-Time Team here.  His team was written in 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2014.   His Spartak Moscow All-Time team entry of  was published in October 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2017.  His entry of the Dutch-German rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona was written in 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2014.  He also copied many many of my blog entries.

His Facebook and Instagram

George Weah:  Ballon d'Or winner 1995

Please also see my All-Time World Cup Team Index.

African-born
Ghana, Cameroon, Nigeria, South Africa, Tunisia
Algeria, Morocco, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Senegal,
North Africa, 
The Rest of Africa(excluding Cameroon, Senegal, Ghana, Ivory Coast, South Africa, Nigeria and North Africa).

Liverpool African or African born Best XI

Ghana World Cup 2022

I have done a number of more specific blog teams for Africa.  An All-African blog team did not appeal to me.  I preferred a more detailed and in depth approach to my blog teams.  However, the idea of making an All-African team came up my trip to Kenya and Tanzania.  I started and nearly completed it while in Africa. Most of the research was basically a combination of all of my African blog teams.

The Confederation of African Football was founded, in June 1954. In 1957, the first African Cup of Nations was held in Khartoum, Sudan.  It was won by Egypt.  African-born players such Eusebio, Mario Coluna, etc also started to emerge in the 1960's, but they represented for their colonial national team in Europe.  Eusebio's performance at the 1966 World Cup Finals was one of the best ever by a player in the World Cup Finals up until that point.

Africa's first participation in the WC Finals began in 1938 by Egypt, but withdrew before playing any matches..  However, from 1938 to 1970, CAF shared World Cup Finals spot with other confederations.  No African team qualified for the World Cup Finals until 1970 when CAF gained its World Cup spot.  Morocco earned a draw and two defeats in West Germany.  In 1978, Tunisia beat Mexico becoming the first African team to win a game in history.  In 1986, Morocco becomes first African team into the Round of 16.  Then, Cameroon surprised the world with its historical run in 1990.

 

All players must have represented a CAF national team or uncapped at the senior level.

Michael Essien and Didier Drogba

Team

GK: Thomas N'Kono (Cameroon)
Thomas N'Kono was among the best keepers from the 1980's and probably the most famous goalkeeper ever from Africa.  He played in three WC Finals.  Gianluigi Buffon was inspired by him and named his son Thomas after him.  After playing in his country with Canon Yaoundé and Tonnerre Yaoundé he moved to Spain with RCD Español in 1982. , He received the France Football African Footballer of the Year award in 1982 and in 1979.

GK: Bruce Grobbelaar (Zimbabwe)
Bruce Grobbelaar made 628 appearances for Liverpool in 13 years.  He was considered among the best England-based keepers of his generation and a legend with Liverpool. He won the 1984 European Cup, 6 English league titles and 3 FA Cups. Born in South Africa, he moved to Rhodesia as a child.  He played one game for Rhidesia in 1977.  From 1980 to 1998, he was capped 32 times by Zimbabwe, but with several years where he was absent for the national team.

GK : Essam El-Hadary (Egypt)
EL-Hadary was the starting keeper for Egypt as it dominated African Cup of Nations. He won four African Cup of Nations: 1998, 2006, 2008 and 2010.  He was chosen the best keeper in 2006, 2008 and 2010.  He was a major player in Egypt's treble titles. At the age of 45, he became the oldest player ever to make ahis debut in a WC Finals history during Russia 2018. From 1996 to 2008, he played with Al Ahly. From 2008 onward, he played for many clubs, including briefly with FC Sion in Switzerland.

Essam El-Hadary

RB:  Lauren Etame Mayer (Cameroon)
Lauren  was known for his career with Arsenal in England. He was part of Arsenal's "Invincibles", a title given to Arsenal's team that went undefeated team in the Premiership.  He was named in the PFA Team of the Year that season.  He also played in Spain. With Cameroon, he won two African Cup of Nations. He also won an Olympic Gold Medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics with Cameroon.

RB: Achraf Hakimi (Morocco)

Achraf Hakimi came through Real Madrid's youth academy, but he first made a name with Borussia Dortmund.  He later played for Inter Milan for a season.  In 2021, he joined PSG in France.  He won the Lion d'Or African Footballer of the Year in 2019.  Born in Spain, he was eligible  to play for them, but he chose Morocco.  He played for them at the 2018 World Cup Finals.

CB: Lucas Radebe (South Africa)
Lucas Radebe began playing in South Africa with Kaizer Chiefs in 1989, before transferring to Leeds United in 1994, where he played 200 matches for the Yorkshire side. During his spells at these clubs, he picked up the nicknames "Rhoo" and "The Chief". He became captain of Leeds United and also of the South African national team, most notably at World Cup 2002.  From 1993 to 2003, he played over 70 times for South Africa.  In 2000, he was awarded the FIFA Fair Play Award.

CB: Kolo Toure (Ivory Coast)
He is Yaya Toure's brother.  He was a member of Arsenal's undefeated team in 2003-2004.  He later joined Manchester City andLiverpool. Touré is the second-most capped player for the Ivory Coast, with 118 appearances from 2000 to 2015. He represented the team at the 2006, 2010 and 2014 World Cup Finals. Touré also represented the Ivory Coast at seven Africa Cup of Nations tournaments between 2002 and 2015, helping them finish runner-up in 2006 and 2012, while winning in 2015.

Kolo Toure

CB: Samuel Kuffour (Ghana)
Samuel Kuffour was probably Ghana's most famous defender.  He spent 11 seasons with Bayern Munich, winning almost everything.  He won the Champions' League in 2001. He was twice runnerup for the African Player of the Year and won Ghana Player of Year in 1998, 1999 and 2001. He was capped 59 times.  He played in the 2006 World Cup Finals in Germany. His youth career started with Torino in Italy.  He also played for Roma, Ajax and Livorno. 

CB:  Noureddine Naybet (Morocco)
Naybet was one of the best African defender ever.  He played a record 115 matches for the Moroccan national team, representing the country in two World Cups and six Africa Cup of Nations tournaments. He spent most successful period of his career with Deportivo La Coruña in Spain, the team known as Super Depor. He won the 1999-2000 league title with them. He was one of the best center-back in La Liga during his prime.

LB: Celestine Babayaro (Nigeria)

Babayaro spent the majority of his career playing in the Premier League, mainly for Chelsea from 1997 to 2005, and then later for Newcastle United, from 2005 to 2008. He had a brief stint at MLS club LA Galaxy, but never officially played for the club. He retired as a free agent in 2010. Babayaro represented the Nigeria national football team from 1995 to 2004 and was part of two Olympic squads, two World Cup squads and three African Cup of Nations squads.

 

DM: Rifaat El-Fanagily (Egypt) 
Rifaat El-Fanagily was born in 1936.  He is considered one of the best Egyptian players of all-time.  He made his national team debut in 1956.  He won the 1957 and 1959 Africa Cup of Nations, and represented his country in the 1960 and 1964 Summer Olympics, playing under the United Arab Republic banner on both occassions. At the domestic club level, Rifaat El-Fanagily played for Al Ahly during his career between 1955 and 1967.

CM: Michael Essien (Ghana)
Michael Essien was one of the best central midfielders in the world during his prime. He first became a star while playing for Lyon.  Then, he moved to Chelsea.  Over there, he won a Champions' league, two Premier League titles and four FA Cups.  He also played with Real Madrid, AC Milan and Panathinaikos. Essien earned 58 caps in total.  He had represented his nation at three Africa Cup of Nations tournaments. Essien has also represented Ghana at the 2006 and 2014 World Cups.

CM: Yaya Toure (Ivory Coast)
Yaya Toure is probably one of the best African player of his generation.  He went to three World Cup Finals at the 2006, 2010. He also represented them in six Africa Cup of Nations, captaining them to victory in 2015. Touré had stints with Beveren, Metalurh Donetsk, Olympiacos, and AS Monaco before moving to Barcelona in 2007. In 2010, Touré moved to Premier League club Manchester City where he helped City earn their first league title in 44 years. He is among the greatest Manchester City players.

AM: Larbi Benbarek  (Morocco)
Larbi Benbarek was born and raised in Morocco in the period when the country was under the French rule.  He was the first Black player to reach stardom in Europe, earning the nick name "Black Pearl". He made his name with Stade Francasis Paris.  In 1948, he moved to Atletico Madrid, where he reached the height of his career and won two La Liga title.  He is considered one of the greatest ever French player. He was capped 19 times between 1938 and 1954.

Larbi Benbarek

AM: Jay-Jay Okocha  (Nigeria) 

Jay-Jay Okocha is widely considered to be one of Nigeria's greatest footballers. In 2007 Jay-Jay Okocha was voted number 12 on the greatest African footballers of the past 50 years by CAF.  He was Nigeria Player of the Year in 1995, 1997, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005.  He played in three World Cup Finals(1994, 1998, 2002) and won an Olympic Gold medal in 1996.  At the club level, he played for Fenerbahçe, Eintracht Frankfurt, PSG, Bolton Wanderers and Hull City.

AM/SS: Abedi Pele (Ghana)
Abedi Pele was one of the greatest African player ever.  He was best remembered for his career with Marseille, where he won the first ever Champions' League title for a French club.  He was African Player of the Year for three straight years between 1991 and 1993. He was voted 3rd as the African Player of the Century. He had 77 caps for Ghana. He was a member of the team that won African Cup of Nations in 1982. He was at one point the country's all-time top scorer.

RW: Riyad Mahrez (Algeria)
Born in France, Riyad Mahrez joined Leicester from La Harve in 2014.  He helped Leicester Town to win the Premiership in 2015-2016.  He won the PFA Players' Player of the Year, and was a member of the Premier League PFA Team of the Year as he helped Leicester City win the Premier League.  In 2018, he joined Manchester City. For the national team, he was eligible to play for France. He was selected to play for Algeria at Brazil 2014, but only played in one match. 

 Riyad Mahrez 

FW/LW: Sadio Mané (Senegal)

Sadio Mané stated with Metz.  He made his name while playing for Red Bill Salzburg and Southampton. In 2016, he became the most expensive African player in history at that time when he joined Liverpool.  Mané, Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Philippe Coutinho made up a prolific attacking quartet dubbed the "Fab Four".  He helped the club to reach the Final of the 2018 Champions' League. He scored a goal in the Final.  For Senegal, he played for them at the World Cup Finals in 2018.    He was the AFCON MVP as Senegal won the tournament in 2022.

AM/FW: George Weah (Liberia) 

In terms of individual awards, no other African player wins more awards than him.  He was was named FIFA World Player of the Year and won the Ballon d'Or in 1995.  He won African Footballer of the Year: 1989, 1994, 1995.  He was voted African Player of the Century in 1996.  He had great careers with AC Milan where he won two Serie A titles. He also played for Paris St Germaine and AS Monaco in France. In 2017, Weah was elected as the President of Liberia.

ST: Samuel E'too (Cameroon) 
Samuel E'too started his career with the academy of Real Madrid, but he made his name with Mallorca. He was a part of the famous "REM" line at Barcelona where he won two Champions' league titles.   He moved to Inter Milan in 2009 and won a third Champions' league in 2009-2010.  He won the African Player of the Year award a record four times: in 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2010. He was capped 118 caps with Cameroon.

Samuel E'too

ST/RW: Mohamed Salah  (Egypt) 
"Mo" Salah played with El Mokawloon in Egypt before heading to play for Basel in Switzerland. In 2013, he won the best player award in Switzerland.  He earned a big move to Chelsea in 2014, but he ended up with a loan move to Fiorentina and Roma.  In 2017, he moved to Liverpool after starring for Roma.  In 2017, he helped Egypt for their first World Cup Finals since 1990.  In the WC Finals, he scored a single goal.

ST: Roger Milla (Cameroon)
Roger Milla became an international star after he scored 4 goals at the World Cup Finals in 1990 as Cameroon reached the quarterfinal.  He was already 38 years old. Many people credited Cameroon for putting African football on the map. Then, in 1994, he became the oldest goal-scorer in World Cup history when he scored against Russia.  He was voted the African Player of the Century.  He was the African Footballer of the Year in 1976 and 1990.

ST: Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast)

Didier Drogba was voted African Footballer of the Year twice: 2006 and 2009.  He is probably Ivory Coast's greatest ever player and probably among the greatest ever striker from Africa. The best part of his career was spent with Chelsea in England.  He won the Champions' League for 20011-12. He also finished the top scorer in the Premiership twice.  He also played in France, MLS and China. For his country, he led Ivory Coast to the World Cup Finals in 2006, 2010 and 2014. He was also their all-time leading scorer.

Didier Drogba

Honorable Mention
Joseph-Antoine Bell (Cameroon),  Jacques Songo’o (Cameroon), Arthur Riley (South Africa), Arthur Wharton (Ghana), Mustafa Mansour (Egypt), Édouard Mendy (Senegal), Yassine Bounou  Badou (Morocco), Ezzaki Kazadi (Morocco), Mwamba (Zaire), Sadok “Attouga” Sassi (Tunisia), Stephen Tataw (Cameroon), Geremi Njitap (Cameroon), Eddie Stuart (South Africa) Ferdinand Coly (Senegal), Emmanuel Eboué (Ivory Coast), Hatem Trabelsi (Tunisia), Rigobert Song (Cameroon), Bwanga Tshimen (Zaire/Congo), Ibrahim Youssef (Egypt), Wael Gomaa (Egypt), Hany Ramzy (Egypt), Stephen Keshi (Nigeria), Christian Chukwu (Nigeria), Kalidou Koulibaly (Senegal), Mustapha Zitouni (Algeria), Taribo West (Nigeria), Taye Taiwo (Nigeria), Celestine Babayaro (Nigeria), Kwadwo Asamoah (Ghana), Arthur Boka (Senegal). Pierre Womé (Cameroon), Papa Bouba Diop (Senagal), Sunday Oliseh (Nigeria), John Obi Mikel (Nigeria), Chérif Souleymane (Guinea), Seydou Keita (Mali), Mahamadou Diarra (Mali), Ahmed Faras (Morocco), Berry Nieuwenhuys (South Africa), Anthony Yeboah (Ghana), Paul Bonga Bonga (Congo), Rabah Madjer (Algeria), Lakhdar Belloumi (Algeria), Mahmoud El Khatib (Egypt), Abdelaziz Ben Tifour (Algeria), Tarak Dhiab (Tunisia), Salif Keita (Mali), Kalusha Bwalya (Zambia),  Papa Camara (Guinea), Emmanuel Adebayor (Togo),  Jomo Sono (South Africa), Patrick Ntsoelengoe (South Africa), Finidi George (Nigeria), Emmanuel Amunike (Nigeria), Nwankwo Kanu (Nigeria), Rachid Mekhloufi (Algeria), Jules Bocande (Senegal).

Squad Explanation
-- The original team was created in 2019 while I was on a trip in Africa.  I did an intensive review of the team in February, 2023 after I finished redoing most of my African All-Time teams.

- This team was lending toward the more recent players, but I did my best to spread the team around.  Rifaat El-Fanagily (Egypt) and Larbi Benbarek (Morocco) were the only old-timers selected.

-- European club football heavily influenced my selections, but I did take Rifaat El-Fanagily and Essam El-Hadary.  Both never played or succeeded in Europe.  Roger Milla's selection was based on his World Cup performance.

-- George Weah, Thomas N'Kono, Mohamed Salah, Yay Yay Toure, Sadio Mane, Samuel E'too, Abedi Pele and Didier Drogba were among the greatest ever from Africa.

Thomas N'Kono

-- I also failed to honour older players such as Tarak Dhiab (Tunisia), Theophile Abega (Cameroon), Mahmoud El Khatib (Egypt), Saleh Selim (Egypt), Laurent Pokou (Ivory Coast) and Abdelaziz Ben Tifour (Algeria) were overlooked.  The players selected ahead of them were very talented.

--  Bruce Grobbelaar was a white man, but it should not be an issue. Several South Africans before the end of apartheid was named in the honorable mentions (if they never represented a non-African national team).  Riyad Mahrez were born in France, but he was also not an issue at all.

 -- Many African superstars played for European national teams before the founding of their own national teams. For my all-time teams of Algeria and Senegal, I ruled these players as eligible.  The good players from that generation had no other choice, but to represent European countries.  Without this rule, if a player was not good enough for France, he would be eligible while the better players became ineligible simply because they were better players and played for the Europeans.  But if I considered them for this all-African All-Time team, it would open the door for players such as Just Fontaine, Claudio Gentile, Alexandre Villaplane etc.  They were Europeans born in African.  And if I considered them, should I open the door for the more recent generation? Players such as Jean Tigana, Claude Makelele, etc belonged to this team as much as Claudio Gentile.  This team would suddenly become very confusing.  So I decided to select players who were capped by African countries or uncapped players only.  I created an African Born All-Time team so that I could be inclusive to every player.

-- I recognised unofficial national teams such as the FLN of Algeria or South African colored national tea as "caps".

-- Eusebio is probably the greatest ever African born player, but he is ineligible because he played for Portugal as mentioned above.  On the other hand, his comptempory David Julio was eligible became he played for South Africa colored national team before representing Portugal.  Abdelaziz Ben Tifour also played for FLN and Larbi Benbarek played for an unofficial Moroccan national team, which I considered to be the national team of their countries respectively.  So they became eligible.

-- White South Africans are considered Africans.  They are eligible as long as they are not cap-tied to another country.  Gordon Hodgson played for South Africa before playing for England.  He is eligible.  Roy Wegerle never played for South Africa, but he represented the United States.  He is ineligible.  Craig Johnstone who was uncapped at the senior level should be considered too.

-- Eusebio and Mario Coluna would definitely make this team.  I had created an African born All-Time team.  The team would include all players.

Goalkeepers

-- For goalkeepers, Thomas N'Kono and Bruce Grobbelaar were certain choices for this team. Thomas N'Kono was considered to be Africa's greatest goalkeeper.  He inspired Gianluigi Buffon of Italy to play goalkeeper.  He was named African Player of the Year twice, which was rare for a goalkeeper to win the award.  Grobbelaar was very decorated during his career with Liverpool FC.  During his 13-years at Liverpool, he helped the team win six league titles, one European Cup, three FA Cups, three league cups, amongst other trophies. His contemporary Gary Bailey was eligible to play for South Africa, but he was born in England and was cap-tied to England.  He was ineligible.

Bruce Grobbelaar 

-- For the third goalkeeper, I looked into many candidates.  Arthur Wharton who was born in Ghana was widely considered to be the first Black professional footballer. He was an uncapped footballer in which his birth place made him eligible for Ghana. Arthur Riley spent 15 years playing with Liverpool.  He was also one of the first Africans to play in Europe.  He took over the starting position from Elisha Scott in Liverpool, and Elisha Scott was considered one of Liverpool's greatest goalkeepers.  He was a White man, but being born in South Africa made him eligible for this team. 

-- Cameroon is Africa's greatest goalkeeper producing countries. Jacques Songo’o and Joseph-Antoine Bell were strong contenders for the third choice.  Bell was named "African Goalkeeper of the Century" by IFFHS, as part of their "Century Elections" ahead of his rival Thomas N'Kono.  Carlos Kameni could easily rank in the top 10 greatest African keeper. He won an Olympic gold medal as a 16 years old. But I could not find space for him even on Cameroon All-Time team. 

-- In the end, I took Essam El Hadary.  He was the starting keeper for Egypt as it dominated African Cup of Nations. He won four African Cup of Nations: 1998, 2006, 2008 and 2010.  He was chosen the best keeper in 2006, 2008 and 2010.  I admitted that I switched my criteria all the time.  Sometimes, the lack of European exposure hurt a player's chance on my blog teams, but on this occasion, I honoured the Egyptian goalkeeper for his achievement in Africa.  He is probably the greatest African goalkeeper in the history of the African Nations' Cup.  

-- Édouard Mendy helped Chelsea to win the Champions' League.  After the 2022 World Cup Finals, I added Yassine Bounou to the list.  He made some important saves as Sevilla won the European League in the 2019-2020 season in which he was named in the Europa League Squad of the Season.  He also won the La Liga Zamora Trophy in the 2021–22 season.  Then, in the 2022 World Cup Finals, he was sensational as Morocco became the first African team to reach the World Cup Finals. He had done things that no other African goalkeeper could match. His countryman Badou Ezzaki also made honorable mention.

-- Kazadi Mwamba's horrible experience in the 1974 World Cup Finals did not justify his reputation.  In Africa, he was known as among the greatest.  Sadok “Attouga” Sassi was also two of Africa's greatest, but he had limited exposure outside Africa. He missed Tunisia's first World Cup Finals in 1978 through injury.

-- Mustafa Mansour played for Queens' Park FC in the 1930's after the 1936 World Cup Finals.  Both were really ahead of their time.  They set a milestone for African goalkeepers.

Defenders

-- In 2019, I believed that Lauren Etame Mayer was Africa's greatest rightback. In 2000, he was the runner-up of the African Player of the Year.  Hatem Trabelsi of Tunisia beat out Emmanuel Eboue for the second rightback spot.  However, I decided to replace him with Achraf Hakimi after the 2022 World Cup Finals. Hakimi already stood out in his club career with Borussia Dortmund, Inter Milan and PSG.  He was a big contributor as Morocco reached the semi-final of the 2022 World Cup Finals.

Achraf Hakimi

-- Africa also had many more great rightbacks who were on par with the two selected.  Stephen Tataw was considered one of Cameroon's most important player. Geremi Njitap had done better than most Cameroonian footballers in his club career.  He is also the third most capped player for this country.  Eddie Stuart played for 11 years with Wolverhampton Wolves in the 1950's when they were one of the most successful team in England. He seldom got recognition as an African footballer.  Perhaps, he was a white man of British descent playing in England.  He also never represented South Africa in football.  Ferdinand Coly was a World Cup hero for Senegal at the 2002 World Cup Finals, but his club career was less glamorous as the others selected for this position.  Emmanuel Eboué was well-known during his career with Arsenal.

-- Hatem Trabelsi has represented the Tunisia  in three World Cups, gaining a total of 66 cap.  He was a part of the national team's 2004 African Nations' Cup winning team. He spent 6 years with Ajax, where he was regarded as one of the best rightback playing in Europe and probably the most well-known player from his country. He has also played for CS Sfaxien, Manchester City and Al-Hilal Riyadh. 

-- The leftback position seemed weaker.  When I googled "Africa's greatest best XI", the leftbacks on the team sheet were often a central defender converted into the lineup or they played with three central defender on their formation.  The IFFHS selected Taribo West as their leftback for their Nigeria Greatest Best XI B side, but he was mainly a central defender.  Nigeria also had Taiye Taiwo and Celestine Babayaro.  All three were well-known defenders playing club football in Europe.  Kwadwo Asamoah was named Ghana Player of the Year twice consecutively for 2012 and 2013.  He made it to Serie A Team of the Year in 2014.  Pierre Womé did not establish himself at the club level like the other candidates.  They were all well-known in European club football.  Arthur Boka was known as "Roberto Carlos" of Africa. Somehow, I was very undecided with this position.

-- In 2019, I selected Salem Ben Miloud. He moved to France in 1946.  He spent 10 seasons with Olympique de Marseille, winning the league title once in 1948. He was one of the first African defenders to shine in Europe.  He retired from football before Morocco played its first international game in 1957.  He was a left-sided defender in his time, but in the modern game, he would not be considered a leftback.  In 2023, I replaced him with Celestine Babayaro.  Despite competition from Graeme Le Saux during his years in Chelsea, he started many games over there.  He was known for his left wing attack.

-- I took four central defenders who were well-known in European club football. Samuel Kuffour was a stalwart of Bayern Munich's defense for over a decade at a time when Bayern Munich was one of the best team in the world.  He was the BBC African Player of the Year in 2001.  He might be Africa's greatest defender. Noureddine Naybet played for Deportivo La Coruna when it was known as the"Súper Dépor".   They were a top team in Spain when La Liga was considered the best in the world.  Lucas Radebe was a long-time captain of Leeds United.  At one point, he was one of the better defenders in the Premiership.  Kolo Toure played 14 years in the Premiership.

Noureddine Naybet

-- The old-timers rated Bwanga Tshimen very high.  In his prime, he was widely considered above any African player of his era.  He was a pioneer of the African football.  This blog team has ignored too many old-timers. So I took him in 2019 because he really stood out before the emerge of African football.  Zaire was considered a powerful team in Africa in his time. However,  under the review in 2023, I felt that the standard of African football at his time was low.   Zaire's gap with the rest of the world was clearly illustrated at the 1974 WC Finals.  Most of the other players selected were playing in the top of the world while Tshimen was not of the same level.  So in 2023, I decided to drop him (I had five central defenders on the 2019 team).

-- Bwanga Tshimen was nicknamed "Black Beckenbauer".  He is widely considered one of the best defenders from Africa.  He won the 1973 African Footballer of the Year.  He was a part of  Zaire's ill-fated team at the 1974 World Cup in Germany, in which Zaire played poorly.  For club football, he played for TP Mazembe back home.

-- Ibrahim Youssef was considered Egypt's greatest defender, but the modern fans considered Wael Gomaa "The Rock" as Egypt's greatest ever defender.  Hany Ramzy was one of the most successful Egyptian to play football in Europe. He was also the first Christian captain of the national team. The three of them only made honorable mention.

-- I selected Lucas Radebe (South Africa) over the Egyptian defenders for his European experience.  Radebe was a huge star in England while Gomma was limited to African football.  I also wanted to spread the team around. I have ignored successful South Africans playing in England before the 1950's and in the NASL during the 1970's. I admitted adding a South African onto the team was one of the reason why he was selected. I always believe in spreading around the team with reasonable consideration.  Arthur Riley and Berry Nieuwenhuys (South Africa) were considered.  Patrick Ntsoelengoe was also not selected because I went for players with better experience playing outside Africa.

-- Stephen Keshi and Christian Chukwu were the two famous central defenders.  Both were given the CAF Legend Award in 2008 and 2009 respectively.  At the time of writing, they were one of three Nigerian footballers who had won the award.   The other was Jay Jay Okocha. Rigobert Song of Cameroon also won the award.  Keshi, Chukwu and Song only made honorable mention.

-- Kalidou Koulibaly was Serie A Defender of the year in 2019.  He firmly established himself in Europe, but was he as good as the four European star defenders I chose?

-- Mustapha Zitouni was capped 4 times by France in the late 1950's, but he switched to Algeria after Algeria gained independence.  It was liked some of the Soviet and Yugoslav player switching to a newly independent state. He was eligible since he did play for Algeria, but I only put him on honorable mention.

Midfielders/Wingers

-- Rifaat El- Fanagili was chosen the best defender of the 1960 Olympic football tournament in Rome, but I took him as a defensive midfielder because this team lacked defensive midfielders.  He was known to be one of Egypt's greatest midfielders. 

-- Yaya Toure won the African Footballer of the Year award on four consecutive times between 2014 and 2018.  At the time, he was probably the world's best central midfielders.  Michael Essien was essential to Jose Mourinho's Chelsea.  However, his peak was actually short due to injuries.  Nevertheless, I needed central midfielders and he had to be on the team.

Yaya Toure

--  Seydou Keita played for Pep Guardiola's Barcelona.   During that era, only Lionel Messi, Xavi Hernandez, Dani Alves and Victor Valdes played more for Guardiola in Barcelona than him.   However, he did not stand out on that team.  In fact, his reputation was an underused player despite the statistics said otherwise. He also lost out in this team because of the lack of successes with Mali during his prime.  I opted with Rifaat El-Fanagili.  Mahamadou Diarra was great while playing in France, but he only had roughy two great seasons with Real Madrid.  I also looked into Papa Bouba Diop, Sunday Oliseh and John Obi Mikel.  Chérif Souleymane was a pioneer playing in Europe, but I was uncertain of his actual playing position.

-- David Júlio left South Africa for Mozambique to pursue a career in football.  He ended up joining Sporting SP in Portugal.  He earned 4 caps for Portugal between 1960 and 1964 at a time when Portugal was a force to be reckon with.  However, he had played and captained South African colored national team in 1952, a team I recognised as the national team of South Africa.  Thus, he was eligible.  I believed that he was a box-to-box midfielder, a position I badly needed.  In the end, I could not select him over other legends of African football. I simply did not know enough about him.

-- In 1937, Larbi Benbarek represented Morocco and beat France 4-2. Benbarek was one of the best on the field.  It was the year before he transferred to Olympique de Marseille.  It was a period before the Royal Moroccan Football Federation was founded in 1955.  I recognised the pre-Morocco national team as an official national team. So he is eligible for this team. I also found some evidence that he played in the 1940's, but I needed to look further into the topic.  Benbarek was the first African superstar in football.  He was not selected for my France All-Time team because I already had Raymond Kopa, Zinedine Zidane and Michel Platini, but he was one of the best players ever played for France.  

-- In 2019, Mohamed Salah is the only winger on the team, but I listed him as a forward.  The team was unbalanced. Berry Nieuwenhuys and Albert Johanneson of South Africa deserved a mention somewhere.  Sadio Mané and Kalusha Bwalya were probably Africa's greatest left wingers. Craig Johnston was included on my South African All-Time Team.  He was an uncapped player.  He turned down Australia and probably would have ignored the South African national team if he received a callup at his time.  However, plenty of South African players have similar issue and they were considered on that team. In the end, I did not take him.  His nationality issue was not the main issue, but I did think about it. In 2023, I decided to add Sadio Mané (Senegal) and Riyad Mahrez to the team. 

-- Sadio Mane was one of the best players on Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool. And Since 2019, he already won the African Player of the Year twice.  He also helped Senegal to win the AFCON.  But who should I drop for him? Since I had too many forwards, I dropped Nwankwo Kanu.  Kanu was definitely one of the greatest ever from Africa.   In Arsenal, he was definitely an important player, but he was more of a impact bench player for most of his time there.  And in his prime, he was not the best player in the Premiership.  Meanwhile, Sadio Mane was named 4 times in the PFA Team of the Year, and finished the Premier Top Scorer once.  He was one of the very top players in the league if not in the world during his time in England.

-- Riyad Mahrez was somehow ignored in my 2019 selection.  He was certainly a standout player in the Premiership for many years.  But who should I drop for him? This team had five attack midfielders (Larbi Benbarek, George Weah, Lakhdar Belloumi. Jay-Jay Okocha and Abedi Pele).  So dropping one of them seemed logic.

-- George Weah and Larbi Benbarek were two of Africa's most important players ever.  Abedi Pele built his legacy in southern France with Marseille. During the 1990's, he might be one of the best midfielders in the world.  He won the African Player of the Year three times. Jay Jay Okocha might be less decorated in the club level than the other players selected.  But after I dropped Nwankwo Kanu, he remained the only Nigerian on the team.  So I was reluctant to drop him. I had to take him. Besides, he was one of the most skillful and technical gifted players in his generation.   His PSG teammate Ronaldinho understudied him and considered him his idol. He also belonged the Golden Generation of Nigeria winning an Olympic Gold medal and the 1994 AFCON.  He was awarded a CAF Legend Award in 2011.  So that left Belloumi as expendable?

Jay-Jay Okocha

-- So it was coincidental that I put Riyad Mahrez against his country man Lakhdar Belloumi. Both were considered Algeria's greatest ever players.  The older fans probably viewed Belloumi as the better player, but some younger fans started to see Mahrez as Algeria's greatest ever.  Belloumi scored the winning goal against West Germany in the 1982 World Cup Finals in which he became immortal in Algeria.  That epic match also put African football on the map. He was also voted as the 4th best African player of the century.  He holds the record as the most capped Algerian player with 147 national caps.  He also won the African Player of the Year award in 1981.  Meanwhile, no Algerian shone more than Mahrez in European club football.  He won the PFA Player of the Year in 2016 after his club team Leicester won the English league title.  His career with Manchester City spoke volume. Internationally, he also led Algeria to the AFCON 2019 title. However, the debate over here was not about the GOAT in Algeria.  If that was the case, Rabah Madjer should enter the conversation as well.  I was more interested in making this a better team.  So I took winger Mahrez over Belloumi.

-- I also thought of dropping Jay Jay Okocha for Seydou Keita.

-- Mohamed Aboutrika and Mahmoud El Khatib lacked exposure outside of Africa.  Besides, the team had too many midfielders.  Tarak Dhiab  and Théophile Abega could only made honorable mention.  Paul Bonga Bonga (Congo) also have done a lot for African football, but I did not have space for him.   He was an uncapped player which made him eligible for this team.  Lakhdar Belloumi, Abedi Pele,  Jay-Jay Okocha, Yaya Toure, Michael Essien and George Weah were ahead of him.  

Forwards

-- Samuel Eto’o was African Player of the Year four times.  He is the AFCON’s and Cameroon’s highest goalscorer of all-time.  Didier Dogba won the African Footballer of the Year title twice. He was one of the most decorated African footballers of all time, winning four Premier League titles with Chelsea. He was also the highest goalscorer in the 2006/07 and 2009/10 Premier League seasons.  They were top players playing in European football in their prime. Mohamed Salah actually won more individual awards than Drogba in England.  He won both PFA and FWA Footballer of the Year twice.  His partnership and rivalry with Sadio Mane were well-known.  Liverpool won every possible trophies with the two of them at helm. They also went head-to-head in the 2021 AFCON Final as well as the CAF's World Cup qualifying playoff later in the same year.  From 2017 to 2022, the pair finished 1-2 at the African Player of the Year award with each player winning twice each.

Mohamed Salah vs Sadio Mané 

-- Roger Milla was often listed among the greatest African player.  However, outside of the World Cup Finals, Roger Milla did not have a strong club career.  I selected him because he has put African football and their national teams on the map with his World Cup performance in 1990.  He had done a lot for African football.  

-- Just Fontaine was born in Morocco of a French father and a Spanish mother.  He began his amateur career at USM Casablanca, where he played from 1950 to 1953.  He played for France so he was ineligble.

-- No Rabah Madjer? With Porto, he won nine major titles during his six-year spell, including the 1987 European Cup. It was controversial not to select him, but I have Mohamed Salah, Samuel E'too and Didier Drogba ahead of him.  Meanwhile, I have a special reason to select Roger Milla.

-- Gordon Hodgson scored 295 goals in England.  He is the fourth in the all-time list of top-flight goalscorers in English football with only Jimmy Greaves (357), Steve Bloomer (317) and Dixie Dean (310) having scored more goals.  He did play for South Africa before playing for England.  So he was eligible for this team, but I only put him on honorable mention alongside Salif Keita and Rachid Mekhloufi.

-- Rachid Mekhloufi is the all-time leading scorer for Saint-Etienne in France, where he played from 1954 to 1958. He was capped by France, but later played for FLN.  He disappeared from the national team duty for France against Switzerland on April, 1958 to join the FLN team.  Because of that, he missed the 1958 World Cup Finals.  One source called him France's best player at the time, but France also had Raymond Kopa and Just Fontaine on the team.  

-- Laurent Pokou was considered one of the greatest players from Ivory Coast before the emerge of the recent Golden Generation. He was second highest all-time scorer in the history of Africa Cup of Nations and was only surpassed by Samuel Eto’o in 2008. He finished in the top three twice in the African Player of the Year awards in the early 1970's.  Jules Bocande also won the CAF Legend Award, but his club career was not as strong as the later generations of African superstars.

Formation