In a season of landmarks, Victor Osimhen's latest goal in Serie A brought him another record.
The Nigerian's strike against Fiorentina on 7 May was his 47th in the Italian top flight, taking the Napoli striker past Liberia's George Weah and making him the top African scorer in the league's history - a notable achievement given that former AC Milan star Weah is the only African ever to win the Ballon d'Or prize given to the world's best footballer.
But the two goal-hungry forwards are far from the only Africans to make a mark in Italy. BBC Sport Africa takes a look at some of the facts and figures for players who scored success after crossing the Mediterranean.
The trailblazer and the record breaker
By and large, African players arriving in Italy can be divided into two categories: young prospects and established stars.
Osimhen and Weah fall squarely into the second category, as do Ghanaian idol Abedi Pele, who won a Champions League title at Marseille before joining Torino in 1994, Samuel Eto'o, one of the main protagonists of Inter Milan's treble in 2010, and Mohamed Salah, who was loaned to Fiorentina by Chelsea in January 2015 and then sold to Roma six months later.
.jpg "Victor Osimhen: Napoli star the latest African scoring success in Italy (1)")
African duo Sulley Muntari (left) and Samuel Eto'o (right) enjoyed Inter Milan's greatest season (2009-10) winning Serie A, Coppa Italia and Champions League titles before also claiming the Fifa Club World Cup
Then there are the likes of Ghana's Sulley Muntari, scouted by Udinese at 16 years of age and successful at both Inter and AC Milan, and Senegal's Khouma Babacar, who also arrived at Fiorentina as a teenage youth prospect and went on to play for a further five Italian clubs over more than a decade in the country.
But you might not have heard of the first African ever to feature in the Italian league.
Francois Zahoui, a 19-year-old striker from Ivory Coast, made his Serie A debut for Ascoli against Fiorentina on 28 October 1981.
He played 11 times across one season, often being given the unusual task by his manager, Carlo Mazzone, of coming onto the pitch as a late substitute and deliberately getting caught offside to waste time.
Rumour has it the teenager turned up for his first training session barefoot, just as he was used to doing back home, but he went on to put his stamp on Ivorian football as coach of the men's national team between 2010 and 2012, as well as having spells in charge of Niger and Central African Republic.
.jpg "Victor Osimhen: Napoli star the latest African scoring success in Italy (2)")
Ghanaians lead the way on the list of players from Africa with the most Serie A appearances
Zahoui's 11 Serie A appearances pale in comparison to Kwadwo Asamoah, who holds the record for an African.
The Ghanaian, who turned out for Udinese, Juventus, Inter and Cagliari, played 279 times in Serie A, just nine ahead of compatriots Muntari and Alfred Duncan. Senegal skipper Kalidou Koulibaly comes next with 236 appearances for Napoli.
This season, 15 African nations have been represented in the top flight by a total of 45 players making at least one appearance.
Nigeria leads the way with eight players, followed by Morocco and Ivory Coast who each have six. Four players have represented Ghana and Cameroon, three from Algeria, The Gambia, and Senegal, two from Equatorial Guinea and one each from Angola, Mali, Guinea, Zambia, Sierra Leone and Tunisia.
45 African footballers from 15 countries have played at least one game in Serie A this season. Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Ghana and Cameroon are the nations with the highest representation
Top scorers
While Zahoui was the the first African to play in Serie A, Senegalese defender Roger Mendy was the first to score.
Having joined newly-promoted Pescara, he netted to help his side register a 2-0 home win against Brescia in February 1993. A significant goal for Africa but not for Pescara who were relegated at the end of the season.
African goals have been a constant in the Italian football landscape ever since.
Just behind Osimhen and Weah, Ivorian Franck Kessie managed 41 in 204 games for Atalanta and AC Milan before his move to Barcelona.
Senegal striker Keita Balde also hit 41 for Lazio, Inter, Sampdoria and Cagliari.
Further down the list come Cameroon legend Samuel Eto'o and Salah, each with 35 goals.
Nigeria's Victor Osimhen is now Africa's all-time top scorer in Serie A, having overtaken George Weah
What stands out about this current season is the fact that, with four games left to play, four of the league's top five scorers are African.
Lautaro Martinez is the man immediately behind Osimhen, but after the Argentine come Senegal and Salernitana forward Boulaye Dia, Nigeria and Atalanta wideman Ademola Lookman, and Angola's and Spezia's M'Bala Nzola.
In total, the four Africans have a combined 64 goals between them.
If that was not enough, Malawi and Inter star Tabitha Chawinga is top scorer in the women's league.
It is also worth noting that the last two winners of Serie A's player of the year award are of African origin: Romelu Lukaku from Belgium and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Rafael Leao who plays for Portugal but is of Angolan descent.
Osimhen the record breaker
Osimhen overtaking Weah's Italian goalscoring record did not go unnoticed in Africa.
Indeed, the great man himself, now president of Liberia, offered "heartfelt congratulations".
"I am truly proud of your exploits," the 56-year-old said in a statement on social media
.
George Weah is the only African to win the Ballon d'Or, claiming the prize for the world's best player in 1995 while at for AC Milan
"When I won my first Scudetto with Milan, I said to myself, why one, why not two? I went on to win the Ballon d'Or. So why not two or more for you, Victor? The sky is your limit.
"There are many great African players in European leagues. They are already up against the hurdles of playing against many odds…so to beat the odds and climb to the top is worth our commendation."
The pair are the only Africans to score at least 10 goals in three consecutive seasons, with Weah achieving the feat in campaigns ending between 1996 and 1998.
Meanwhile, Osimhen's tallies over the last three seasons have grown in conjunction with Napoli's league finishes: 10 goals and fifth place in 2020/21; 14 goals and third place in 2021/22; 23 goals and the long-awaited Scudetto triumph this season.
Iconic moments
Be it spectacular goals, outlandish celebrations or crazy hairstyles, Africans have also been responsible for some iconic moments in Italian football over recent decades. Here are just a few.
George Weah's full-pitch slalom - AC Milan v Verona, 8 September 1996
It is not often you see a player score having carried the ball almost the entire length of the pitch, but that is exactly what George Weah did at the San Siro
following a corner for the visiting team.
The Rossoneri striker picked up a loose ball inside his own box and sprinted forward unchallenged until halfway, at which point he started knocking Verona defenders to the ground like ninepins, somehow emerging with the ball from a tangle of yellow-shirted bodies strewn on the turf.
He then proceeded to poke the ball one side of a final opponent before running around the other side and firing low across the goalkeeper from just inside the penalty area.
Majestic, powerful and graceful, his solo run endures as one of Serie A's greatest ever goals.
Obafemi Martins was famous for his extravagant tumbling goal celebrations
Obafemi Martins' acrobatics - Inter Milan v AC Milan, 13 May 2003
After first playing for Reggiana, Nigerian forward Obafemi Martins made his name at Inter Milan, whose fans loved him not only for his goals but also his flik-flak celebrations. No one in Italy had ever seen anything as spectacular!
His most high-profile strike came in the 2003 Champions League semi-final - a derby against AC Milan. After the first leg ended 0-0, Martins' late equaliser in the second match gave Inter brief hope of reaching to the final.
Sadly for Oba Oba, as the Nerazzurri faithful called him, the game ended 1-1, allowing Milan to progress on away goals.
But his six tumbles and pop-eyed, screaming celebration
remain iconic.
Taribo West's hair-raising style - Schalke v Inter Milan, 17 March 1998
Along with the likes of Ronaldo and Diego Simeone, Taribo West was one of the rocks upon which Inter built their Uefa Cup-winning side in 1998.
The Nigeria defender scored the decisive extra-time goal in the quarter-final against German side Schalke.
But he is largely remembered for his colourful hair which was died blue and white during his Inter days.
The braids changed to red and white when he crossed the city to join rivals AC Milan, although he only played four times for the Rossoneri so perhaps the new style did not really suit him.
A colourful character in more ways than one, West, who won an Olympic gold medal in 1996, is now a pastor back in Nigeria.
Francois Omam-Biyik scored the iconic goal that saw Cameroon beat world champions Argentina in the opening game of Italia '90
When Cameroon shocked the world - Cameroon v Argentina, 8 June 1990
Francois Omam-Biyik signed for Sampdoria in the summer of 1997 but football fans across Italy already knew about the Cameroonian striker.
Seven years earlier, in opening match of the 1990 World Cup in Milan, his header against Maradona's Argentina had shocked the entire planet
as the Indomitable Lions defeated the reigning world champions 1-0.
Omam-Biyik played just six times for Samp, never starting a game, but he had already done enough to make him a legend in Italy.
FAQs
How many goals did Victor Osimhen scored for Napoli? ›
| Team | Games | Goals |
|---|---|---|
| Napoli | 96 | 55 |
| Lille | 38 | 18 |
| Charleroi | 36 | 20 |
| Wolfsburg | 16 | 0 |
In the Italian Serie A season 2022/23, Victor Osimhen has played 24 matches (plus 2 as a sub). They have 44 shots on target from a total of 84 shots and have scored 21 goals (19.84 xG). Victor Osimhen averages 12 passes per match with a pass completion rate of 71%, and has 4 assists.
How many goals did Osimhen score in Under 17 World Cup? ›Osimhen, while taking pride of a place among some of the top marksmen who have lit up the tournament with goals, has set a new record of 10 goal scored by one player in a single FIFA U17 World Cup tournament.
Why does Osimhen wear a mask? ›"Osimhen is perfectly healed, he's still wearing the protective mask because it gives him a sense of security, but he's healed," Ruggiero told Radio Marte late last season. "He has his own balance and wants to wear it. Hopefully this mask will be enough until he feels safe and takes it off.
Who is the current highest goal scorer in Napoli? ›1Victor Osimhen | Napoli | 22 goals.
Who is the most final goal scorer in football history? ›Cristiano Ronaldo is the greatest goalscorer in the history of the game. The five-time Ballon d'Or winner has scored 813 goals in his career. He is also the leading goalscorer in men's international football (117) and the top scorer in the UEFA Champions League (145).
Who has the best goals per game in football history? ›Pele – 767 goals
A legend was born and in a total of 831 appearances with Santos FC and Brazil over the course of 20 years, Pele scored 767 goals in top-level 831 games, achieving a ratio of 0.922 goals per game.
Lionel Messi | 73 Goals | 2011-12 season
No footballer has managed to beat this record in football history. Riding on his unreal form, Barcelona had ended the season with four titles – the Copa del Rey, Supercopa, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup.
The highest ever goals to game ratio was during the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland, where an average of 5.38 goals were scored in each of the 26 games. This number can be attributed to some unusually high-scoring games, which included Austria 7 Switzerland 5 and Hungary 9 South Korea 0.
Is Osimhen better than Haaland? ›'The best striker in the world'
"At the moment, Osimhen is the best striker in the world. Yes, even better than Haaland!" But while everyone wants Osimhen, it's Napoli who need him right now - probably more than ever before, in fact.
Who scored the most World Cup goals at age 23? ›
Kylian Mbappe: Impressive scoring stats at FIFA World Cup
At just 23 years old, Mbappe has so far scored 12 World Cup goals in 14 appearances at just two tournaments. That is already more than legendary French footballers Thierry Henry, who scored six, and Zinedine Zidane, who achieved five in his career.
Garo Yepremian was the last NFL player to not wear a face mask, only adopting one partway through the 1966 season.
What football player keeps breaking his mask? ›Florida State OL Dillan Gibbons talks about wearing down Miami's defense, breaking his face mask. Dillan Gibbons needed a new helmet. The Florida State left guard supposedly delivered a block with so much force against Miami that his face mask permanently bent in another direction.
Why is a Korean footballer wearing an eye mask? ›The mask is designed to shield the facial bones from impact and thus it minimises the risk of further injury, which could affect his chances of playing.
Who is Napoli best player now? ›- Goalkeeper. Alex Meret. Top 10 in Pass completion, % Seria A.
- Forward. Victor James Osimhen. #1 in Goals. Seria A.
- Midfielder. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. #1 in Assists. Seria A.
- Defender. Min-Jae Kim. #1 in Passes. Seria A.
...
Goalscorers.
| Rank | 1 |
|---|---|
| Player | Gigi Riva (list) |
| Goals | 35 |
| Period | 1965–1974 |
| Caps | 42 |
In 2020, Osimhen transferred to Serie A club Napoli for a club-record fee of €70 million. He won the Serie A Best Young Player award in the 2021–22 season. He is the highest goalscoring African in the Serie A and currently holds the record for the most goals scored by an African in a single season.
Did Napoli win anything with Maradona? ›The Argentine arrived in the south of Italy in 1984, joining from Barcelona for a then world-record fee of $10.5 million. With Maradona's arrival came a level of success Napoli had previously never seen, culminating in a 1987 title victory; the club's first ever Scudetto.
Did Napoli win Serie A with Maradona? ›The title is Napoli's third in Italy's top division and their first since the legendary Argentine player Diego Maradona led them to championships in 1987 and 1990.
Who has the highest assist in football history? ›
Lionel Messi has the most assists in football.
Who is No 1 Messi or Ronaldo? ›Who is better Messi Or Ronaldo? Ronaldo has scored more goals and won two 'Best FIFA Men's Player' awards, but Messi has won more Ballon d'Or awards (7). Messi has spent most of his playing career in Spain, while Ronaldo has played in Portugal, England, Spain, and Italy.
Who has scored the most weak foot goals in football history? ›The 29-year-old is currently tied with Robin van Persie for the record of most goals scored using his weaker foot. Kane has a whopping 178 Premier League goals, out of which 39 have been scored with his left foot.
Who has the best goals and assists in football history? ›Cristiano Ronaldo (258 assists)
It's not a secret that the Portuguese superstar is the greatest goalscorer in soccer history, but Ronaldo also set up assists for his teammates on multiple occasions. Sporting CP, Manchester United, Real Madrid, and Juventus can tell. Now, Al-Nassr are enjoying having him in their ranks.
Pele, the legendary Brazilian footballer, is considered the football god of all time. No player has won more world cups (3) than him.
Who has 9 50 goal seasons? ›Wayne Gretzky had nine 50-goal seasons in his career, a record shared with Bossy and Ovechkin. Gretzky has the top two goal-scoring seasons, with 92 in 1981–82 and 87 in 1983–84.
Who has the most 50 goal players in one season? ›Mark Easson
Wayne Gretzky and Mike Bossy top the list of NHL players who have scored fifty goals in a season, as they each have done so nine times. Bossy had nine consecutive seasons scoring 50 goals to start his career.
Most Clean Sheets as a Goal-Keeper
Ending on a high, the record 'keeper' for the highest number of clean sheets in World Cup history is Peter Shilton. With 10 clean sheets, the Englishman shares this record with French goalkeeper Fabien Barthez.
Hungary 9, South Korea 0: 1954.
Which legendary men's player has won the most World Cups? ›A total of 471 players have been in the winning team in the World Cup. Brazil's Pelé is the only one to have won three times, while another 20 have won twice. Only players from Argentina, Brazil and Italy have won the world Cup more than once. No player has won two World Cups both as captain.
Who is best Neymar or Haaland? ›
Haaland scored 58 goals and made 14 assists at 19 years old, but Neymar scored 70 goals and made 35 assists. But in this season, Haaland scored 9 goals in 6 games in the top 5 leagues. Neymar scored 15 goals and provided 9 assists in 18 games.
Who is better than Haaland? ›...
Kylian Mbappe vs Erling Haaland: Club assists.
In terms of age, Haaland is far ahead of the Argentinian and Portuguese when they were 23. For both club and country, at the senior level, Haaland has 201 goals in 244 games right now. Meanwhile, at a similar age, Messi had 140 goals in 262 games, while Ronaldo's stats stood at 102 goals in 303 appearances.
Who scored 23 goals in one match? ›Back in 1993, a certain Ronaldinho was mentioned in the media for the first time. The 13-year-old was playing futsal for Gremio at the time and impressed everyone as he scored 23 goals in his team's 23-0 victory.
Who is the youngest player to score in World Cup history? ›...
Youngest goal scorers in FIFA World Cup history as of November 2022.
Alex Ovechkin has collected the most goals by a player older than 35 in a season, with 50 scored in 2021-22.
Is there a 5 yard facemask penalty in NFL? ›Rule Summary View Official Rule
Note: If a player grasps an opponent's facemask, he must immediately release it. If he does not immediately release it and controls his opponent, it is a foul. Penalty: For twisting, turning, pushing, pulling, or controlling the mask: Loss of 15 yards.
Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll, San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan and Denver Broncos coach Vic Fangio were all fined $100,000 each by the NFL on Monday for violating the jointly approved protocol between the league and NFL Players Association, a person familiar with the league's decision told USA TODAY ...
Who was the first NFL player to wear a face mask? ›The party line, repeated in many sources, is that the first facemask was worn by Otto Graham of the Cleveland Browns, who got elbowed in the mouth during the first half of a 1953 game and then played the second half wearing a piece of plastic that coach Paul Brown taped to his helmet.
Why are custom face masks banned in NFL? ›The NFL Bans Customized Facemasks Because Football Isn't Supposed to Be Fun. The NFL continues its crusade to make the beloved sport as boring as possible, as it has banned customized facemasks for players not receiving medical clearance.
What does the black mask mean in football? ›
The masks are intended to cover and protect a laceration or unstable part of the face. Typically, they are used to guard against further injury to lacerations to i.e. the chin or lip, or fractures to the nose or cheekbone.
What football player is in Michael Myers mask? ›Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson celebrated Halloween by wearing a Michael Myers mask during warmups ahead of the Vikings vs. Cowboys game.
Why do football players wear sport bras? ›These sports bras are officially called the GPS tracker vest and are very common among male footballers. According to experts, modern players in the game wear it in order to read their GPS data. The vest has a GPS device connected to it which helps the experts understand the GPS readings of the player.
Why do Koreans get eyelid surgery? ›In a 1989 medical journal, surgeons from Korea, Japan, and Los Angeles declared that the procedure was not for “Caucasianization of the Oriental eye,” but simply to help patients “look more attractive within the current aesthetic norms of [the patient's] own culture.” Scholars point out that Millard was not the first ...
What does Kim mean in Korean? ›In the Silla kingdom (57 BCE–935 CE)—which variously battled and allied with other states on the Korean peninsula and ultimately unified most of Korea in 668—Kim (which means “gold”) was the name of a family that rose to prominence and became the rulers of Silla for 700 years.
How many goals have Napoli scored? ›Napoli are currently in 1st position in the 2022/23 Italian Serie A, with 83 points from 34 matches played. They have won 26 matches, drawn 5, and lost 3. They have scored 70 goals (61.8 Expected Goals (xG)) and conceded 23 goals (28.0 Expected Goals against (xGA)).
How many goals did Hamsik score for Napoli? ›| Club | ||
|---|---|---|
| SSC Napoli | 397 | 148 |
| AGOVV Apeldoorn (- 2013) | 112 | 32 |
| PSV Eindhoven | 88 | 45 |
| FC Utrecht | 86 | 21 |
He scored 121 goals for the club and collected 521 appearances in all competitions during his 12 seasons with the team, and also served as the club's captain between 2014 and 2019; he became the club's all-time top goalscorer in 2017 (surpassed by Dries Mertens in 2020), and the club's all-time appearance holder in ...
Who is the best player in Napoli right now? ›- CM André-Frank Zambo Anguissa. It is not easy to narrow the list down to five, and there were a number of candidates here. ...
- DM Stanislav Lobotka. The best midfielder on the team, though, is none other than Stanislav Lobotka. ...
- CB Kim Min-Jae. ...
- ST Victor Osimhen. ...
- LW Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.
Did Napoli have a goal disallowed? ›
Federico Chiesa sprinted to the deadball line. His cut back was finished off by Dušan Vlahović. This time the goal was disallowed because the ball had crossed the line before Chiesa's delivery.
How many games left for Napoli to win the league? ›It took them more than thirty years to be back at the top of the table, but with a 18-point advantage, even traditionally nervous Napoli fans can keep breathing easy. With six games left before the end of the Serie A season, Napoli are well positioned to win the Scudetto this year, but when?
Are Napoli unbeaten? ›Jan 4 (Reuters) - Napoli's 11-match winning streak and unbeaten start to the Serie A season ended on Wednesday when Edin Dzeko's second-half goal secured Inter Milan a 1-0 victory.
How many Italian titles have Napoli won? ›Under his leadership, the club has stabilized, which has led to renewed on-field success, winning 2005–06 Serie C1, the 2012, 2014, and 2020 Coppa Italia titles, and the 2014 Supercoppa Italiana, eventually culminating in their third league title in 2023, the first since Maradona's departure.
Which player scored a record 13 goals at one world? ›World Cup record holder Just Fontaine has died
Just Fontaine, the French football great who scored a record 13 goals at the 1958 World Cup, has died. He was 89. Fontaine's former club Reims and the French soccer federation confirmed his death on Wednesday.
Napoli's best European night (before 2023 anyway) was when they won the Uefa Cup in 1989.
What happened to Dries Mertens? ›On 8 August 2022, Mertens joined Turkish club Galatasaray on a free transfer. As of early March 2023, he scored 6 goals and made 3 assists in 22 official games he played for his new club.
Has Napoli ever won a UCL? ›...
S.S.C. Napoli in European football.
| First entry | 1962–63 European Cup Winners' Cup |
| Latest entry | 2022–23 UEFA Champions League |
| Titles | |
|---|---|
| Europa League | 1 1988–89 |
The former Argentine international won a total of five titles during seven seasons with the Italian side between 1984 to 1991. Maradona reached the peak of his career with Napoli and inherited the captaincy shortly after his arrival at the club.
Who scored goals for Napoli against Liverpool? ›Liverpool 2-0 Napoli: Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez net late on but Napoli finish top of Group A. Late goals from Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez helped Liverpool to a 2-0 win over Napoli but the Italians still finished top dogs in Champions League Group A.