Top 30 African footballers since 1995: No 20 Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang | OneFootball

On 26 December 1995 the Ballon d’Or opened to all continents, George Weah won it. Since then Europeans have 16 wins, South America 14 with 8 for Lionel Messi, and, as reported by L'Équipe, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is No 20 in a top 30 of African players since 1995.

Born in Laval, he is French by birth, Spanish through his mother, Gabonese by choice. Trained at AC Milan then loaned in France, he broke through at Saint-Étienne before a step up at Dortmund, where he partnered Marco Reus and topped the Bundesliga scoring in 2017.

At Arsenal he won the Premier League Golden Boot in 2019 and the FA Cup in 2020, having earlier lifted the Coupe de la Ligue in 2013 and the German Cup in 2017. He also reached the Europa League final in 2019 and his short Barcelona spell aided a troubled side.

Chelsea followed, then Marseille in 2023, where he became the Europa League’s all-time leading scorer with 31 goals. He joined Al-Qadsiah in 2024 and returned to Marseille in 2025. He was African Player of the Year in 2015, Bundesliga Player of the Year in 2016, and ranked 11th, 21st and 20th in the Ballon d’Or in 2016, 2017 and 2019.

For Gabon he has 84 caps and 39 goals since 2009 and is the all-time top scorer. He has played at five AFCONs, in 2010, 2012, 2015, 2017 and 2025. After retiring in 2022 he returned and hit a quadruple weeks before his fifth finals.

Source: L'Équipe