Who has scored the most goals in the history of AFCON?

Before the tournament kicked off, we looked at the players who will be at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations that have scored most often.

Here, SABC Sport takes a look at the strikers they are chasing - the most prolific in the history of AFCON.

5. Patrick Mboma, Hossam Hassan and Didier Drogba - 11 goals

There are three men tied for fifth in the all-time AFCON goalscorers’ list, including none other than Ivory Coast's Didier Drogba.

The former Chelsea hitman was one of the most feared strikers on the planet when he was in his prime and was a goal threat whenever he was on the pitch.

Egypt's Hossam Hassan has also scored 11 goals at the Africa Cup of Nations but the interesting thing about his story is that he did it over 21 games across seven different tournaments spanning two decades from 1986 to 2006.

The third is Cameroon's Patrick Mboma, who was much more prolific than the other two, scoring his 11 in just 17 AFCON fixtures.

4. Hassan El-Shazly - 12 goals

The second and final Egyptian on the list, for now, Hassan El Shazly's star burned bright and fast at the Africa Cup of Nations.

While the three previously mentioned strikers all played in at least five Africa Cup of Nations tournaments, El-Shazly scored 12 goals in eight games played across three AFCON events.

He scored half of the tally in a wonderful set of performances at the 1963 Africa Cup of Nations, where he finished as the top goalscorer on the way to helping his country to third place.

3. Rashidi Yekini - 13 goals

Nigerian striker Rashidi Yekini played 62 times for his country and scored 37 goals, which is still more than anyone else in Super Eagles history.

He also made a habit of scoring very important goals, such as when he became the first person from Nigeria to score at a World Cup in 1994.

His performances at AFCON were no different as he won the Golden Boot award for both the 1992 and 1994 Africa Cup of Nations, the latter tally being key to Nigeria winning the tournament.

2. Laurent Pokou - 14 goals

Laurent Pokou was a striker for the Ivory Coast who spent the majority of his club career playing for teams in France's Ligue 1.

He had two spells at Rennes for a total of six years, sandwiched around a couple of seasons at Nancy.

His European experience clearly helped him a lot on international duty as he bagged 21 goals in just 30 games for his country, including 14 in 12 games at the Africa Cup of Nations.

1. Samuel Eto'o - 15 goals

The former Chelsea, Real Madrid and Barcelona striker Samuel Eto'o has a resume that speaks for itself and it comes as very little surprise that he sits atop the list of AFCON's greatest goalscorers.

He has a laundry list of accomplishments, awards and trophies from his career, including three LaLiga titles, two Champions League wins and even an Olympic gold medal.

He was named African Player of the Year on four occasions, has been named the FIFA World Player of the Year and even won a Pichichi Trophy to name just a few.

Interestingly, despite winning the Africa Cup of Nations with Cameroon in 2000 and 2002, he wasn't a particularly prolific scorer in the competition until the 2006 event.

From then he was a beast, though, finishing joint top scorer that year and claiming the Golden Boot on his own in 2008 to claim his place at the top of the all-time Africa Cup of Nations scorers list.

READ MORE: How to watch every thrilling moment of the 2023 African Cup of Nations on SABC