Most Valuable Players in 2021 Africa Cup of Nations

The 33rd edition of the African Cup of Nations was held in Cameroon between 9 January and 6 February, and for the first time in the history of the competition, it was the Senegalese national team who managed to clinch the title after failing to do so in the 2019 African Cup of Nations. While this year the African Cup of Nation had some of the best African footballers, who are playing mainly in the European leagues, in this article, we have taken a look into the squads of the 24 participating teams and in the following, will share the most valuable players in 2021 African Cup of Nations.

Most valuable African players

Before getting down to the list of most valuable players in the 2021 African Cup of Nations, we should mention that we have used market values provided by the Transfermarkt website to determine which players should have a place in here. All of the players on this list are playing in Europe, and half of them are currently a part of English teams. Stay tuned as we introduce the top 10 most expensive African footballers and more in this article.

André Zambo Anguissaa

• Date of birth: 16 November 1995 (age 26)

• Place of birth: Yaoundé, Cameroon

• Height: 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)

• Position: Defensive midfielder

• Market Value: €30.00 m

Having a total market value of 30 million euros according to Transfermarkt, Andre Zamo Anguissa is the only Cameroonian football player to appear in our list of most valuable players in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations. Having previously played in the 2019 African Cup of Nations in Egypt, in which Cameroon was knocked out in the round of 16 against

, Andre Zambo Anguissa played his second African Cup of Nations in his home country. 

In the first match of Group A, Anguissa made a good start to the tournament against

, in which they won the match 2-1, and Andre Zambo Anguissa gave the assist to his team’s first goal of the game to Vincent Aboubakar in the 40th minute. He also played the next two group stage matches of Cameroon against Ethiopia (4-1 win) and Cape Verde (1-1). Andre Zambo Anguissa was also present in Cameroon's round of 16 and quarterfinal matches, where they eliminated Comoros with a score of 2-1 and the Gambia with a score of 2-0.

Cameroon faced Mo Salah’s Egyptian national team in the semifinal, where Andre Zambo Anguissa played the full 120 minutes as the match ended in a goalless draw and the fate of the game had to be decided in the penalty shootout. Egypt won the penalties 3-1, and that meant Cameroon had to play against Burkina Faso in the third-place playoff. In that match, Andre Zambo and some other key players of the Cameroonian national team sat on the bench, and younger players played instead.

Naby Keïta

• Date of birth: 10 February 1995 (age 27)

• Place of birth: Conakry, Guinea

• Height: 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)

• Position: Central midfielder

• Market Value: €30.00 m

The first

player to appear in our list of most valuable players in the 2021

is Naby Keita, who has a total market value of 30 million euros. While his highest market value was 65 million euros in April 2018, and he has dropped around 35 million euros in market value, but he is still one of the most valuable African players. As the captain of the Guinea national team, the 27 years old Naby Keita came into the tournament to play in his third African Cup of Nations after having appeared in the 2015 and 2019 editions.

Naby Keita started the 2021 African Cup of Nations with a man of the match performance against

, in which they managed to win the match with a score of 1-0. In the second group stage match against Senegal national team, Naby Keita was once again one of the top performers of his team against Sadio Mane, his teammate in Liverpool and helped his team get a draw and one point against the future champions of the tournament. Naby Keita received a yellow card in the 64th minute in that match.

In their third and last group stage match against Zimbabwe, Naby Keita was again the leader of his team’s midfield and the captain of the team. After an unfortunate start to the match which saw them concede two goals in the 26th and 43rd minutes, it was Naby Keita who scored the only of Guinea on an assist from Mamadou Kane in the 49th minute; however, it was not enough for Guinea to avoid their first defeat in the 2021 African Cup of Nations. In that match, Keita received his second yellow card in the 91st minute.

After the end of the group stage, Guinea qualified for the round of 16, in which they had to face the

. Having received two yellow cards in the last two group stage matches, Naby Keita was suspended and had to watch his teammates get eliminated from the 2021 African Cup of Nations with a 1-0 defeat against the Gambia. Stay tuned for more of the top 10 most expensive African footballers.

Sébastien Haller

• Date of birth: 22 June 1994 (age 27)

• Place of birth: Ris-Orangis, France

• Height: 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)

• Position: Forward

• Market Value: €30.00 m

Another player in our list of most valuable players in the 2021 African Cup of Nations who was born outside of the African continent is Sebastien Haller, with a total market value of 30 million euros. Sebastien Haller came to the 2021 African Cup of Nations with some great performances on the club level, especially at the 2021-22 UEFA Champions League, where he was the top goalscorer, and many football experts were considering him to be amongst the favorites to finish as the top goalscorer of the 2021 African Cup of Nations.

Playing in his first-ever African Cup of Nations match, he started the opening match of Ivory Coast in the tournament against

and was replaced by Christian Kouame in the 82nd minute. In his second match against

, Sebastien Haller was able to score his first and only goal in the tournament on an assist from Wilfried Zaha in the 25th minute. Despite scoring a goal, he was again replaced by Kouame, this time in the 72nd minute and Ivory Coast finished the match 2-2.

Sebastien Haller played his first full match in the third group stage game against Algeria and was able to give the assists to his team’s third goal in the 54th minute to Nicolas Pepe. In the end, Ivory Coast won the match 3-1 and made it to the next round of the 2021 African Cup of Nations. In the round of 16, Ivory Coast faced Egypt. After starting the match, he played in the 105th minute, when he was replaced by Maxwel Cornet. Egypt won the penalties 5-4, and thus Ivory Coast was knocked out of the tournament. 

Ismaël Bennacer

• Date of birth: 1 December 1997 (age 24)

• Place of birth: Arles, France

• Height: 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)

• Position: Defensive midfielder

• Market Value: €30.00 m

The young AC Milan and the

is amongst the most valuable players in the 2021 African Cup of Nations with a total market value of 30 million euros. After playing in the youth ranks of the French national football team in 2016, then 18 years old Ismael Bennacer decided to play for the Algerian national team. For this reason, he was present with the Algerians in the 2017 African Cup of Nations but did not play a match. However, in the 2019 African Cup of Nations, Bennacer was amongst the star players of his team, where he scored three goals, and they won the title.

For the 2021 African Cup of Nations in Cameroon, the Algerian national football team was considered as one of the favorites to win the title. However, this tournament turned out to be a nightmare for the Algerians, as they suffered an early elimination in the group stage with just one point out of three matches. Because of yellow card suspension, Ismael Bennacer was absent in the first match against Sierra Leone, and Algerians got a goalless draw. 

However, in the second group stage match, the central midfielder played the full 90 minutes but was unable to prevent his team from losing the match 1-0 to Equatorial Guinea. In the last group stage match of Algeria against

, which a win could have secured their place in the round of 16, Bennacer once again started the match, this time as the defensive midfielder of his team, but was substituted in the 46th minute by Islam Slimani. With a 3-1 defeat against the Ivory Coast, Algeria and Bennacer were out of the 2021 African Cup of Nations.

Stay tuned for more of the best players at AFCON 2022 and the other most valuable African players who appeared in the tournament.

Edouard Mendy

• Date of birth: 1 March 1992 (age 29)

• Place of birth: Montivilliers, France

• Height: 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)

• Position: Goalkeeper

• Market Value: €32.00 m

The only goalkeeper in this list of most valuable players in the 2021 African Cup of Nations and the star player of the Chelsea and Senegalese national team is Edouard Mendy. The 29 years old goalie was able to put on some outstanding performances during the tournament. With a total market value of 32 million euros, many football fans and experts believe that Edouard Mendy has what it takes to even increase his market value in the coming years, with the good performances that are expected from him both in Chelsea and the Senegalese national team.

Coming to Cameroon to play in his second African Cup of Nations tournament, Edouard Mendy tested positive just days before the start of the tournament and, therefore, was sidelined for the first two matches of the Senegalese national team in the group stage against

and Guinea. Thus, his first match in the 2021 African Cup of Nations was the third group stage game against Malawi, which finished in a 0-0 draw, and he won his first clean sheet in the tournament. From that match on, Edouard Mendy played as the first choice goalkeeper in all the matches up to the final. 

After three wins in the round of 16, quarterfinal and semifinal against Cape Verde, Equatorial Guinea and Burkina Faso, respectively, Edouard Mendy and the Senegalese national team had to face Egypt of Mohamed Salah to clinch the title of the 2021 African Cup of Nations. In the final match, Edouard Mendy was one of the star players of his team, and with his great performance, which earned him a rating of 7.72 from WhoScored, he helped Senegal to win against Egypt in the penalties and thus clinch the 2021 African Cup of Nations title.

Stay tuned for more of the best players at AFCON 2022 and the other most valuable African players who appeared in the tournament.

Youssef En-Nesyri

• Date of birth: 1 June 1997 (age 24)

• Place of birth: Fez, Morocco

• Height: 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)

• Position: Striker

• Market Value: €40.00 m

The first Moroccan player to appear in our list of most valuable players in the 2021 African Cup of Nations, Youssef En-Nesyri, is another striker here. Following his good performance at the club level, many football experts considered Youssef En-Nesyri to be one of the best strikers of the tournament before the start of the 2021 African Cup of Nations, but, in his third African Cup of Nations, Youssef failed to provide the type of performances that many of Moroccan football fans expected to see from him. 

After missing Morocco’s first group stage match against

, in which they won it 1-0, Youssef En-Nesyri only played 25 minutes of the second group stage 2-0 win against Comoros. In the third group stage match against Gabon, Youssef started the match and played the full 90 minutes but was not able to score a goal or provide any assists to his teammates in the 2-2 drawn match. 

After finishing the group stage, Morocco had to face Malawi in the round of 16. It was in this match that Youssef En-Nesyri scored his first and only 2021 African Cup of Nations goal in the injury time of the first half, on an assist from Selim Amallah. With that goal, Youssef equalized the match, and they won after a goal from Achraf Hakimi and made it to the quarterfinal. There, against Egypt, Youssef started the match and was on the pitch before being substituted by Ryan Mmaee in the 86th minute. Morocco lost the match 2-1 at the end of the 120 minutes and thus was eliminated from the 2021 African Cup of Nations.

Thomas Partey

• Date of birth: 13 June 1993 (age 28)

• Place of birth: Krobo Odumase, Ghana

• Height: 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)

• Position: Midfielder

• Market Value: €40.00 m

As the only Ghanaian footballer with a market value of 40 million euros, Thomas Partey has earned himself a place in our list of most valuable players in the 2021 African Cup of Nations. The 28 years old Arsenal defensive midfielder, who had played a total of 17 English Premier League matches so far this season for the Gunners, was part of the Ghanaian national team in the 2021 African Cup of Nations, and as you might know, they had a disappointing campaign in Cameroon. Nevertheless, Thomas Partey was able to put on some good performances in the competition; however, they were not enough to stop their elimination in the group stage.

After the 1-0 defeat against Achraf Hakimi’s Morocco in the opening match of Ghana in the 2021 African Cup of Nations, Ghana got a 1-1 draw in their second group stage match against Gabon. It was Thomas Partey who gave the assist to Ghana’s only goal in that match to Andre Ayew in the 18th minute of the match. In that match, Thomas Partey also received his first yellow card in the 2021 African Cup of Nations in the 36th minute.

With only one point out of two matches in Group C, Ghana had to win their last match against Comoros to secure a place for themselves in the round of 16. As the stronger team, they entered the match with every hope of winning the match, but the fourth-minute goal from El Fardou Ben and the red card for Andrew Ayew meant that the Ghanaians might have a tough job to do in the match. Things got much worse in the 61st minute after another Comoros goal, but three minutes later, Richmond Boakye scored a goal for Ghana, thus giving new hopes to the team.

Thirteen minutes later, on a pass from their strong defensive midfielder Thomas Partey, Ghana scored another goal to equalize the match. However, Ahmed Mogni scored the third and winning goal for Comoros in the 85th minute to send Ghanaians home at the end of the group stage. With good performances in the 2021 African Cup of Nations, many believe that Thomas Partey, who is considered as one of the most handsome black footballers, is going to stay on the list of most valuable players in the 2021 African Cup of Nations for many years to come.

Wilfried Zaha

• Date of birth: 10 November 1992 (age 29)

• Place of birth: Abidjan, Ivory Coast

• Height: 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)

• Position: Forward

• Market Value: €40.00 m

With a total market value of 40 million euros, the 29 years old winger Wilfried Zaha was part of the most valuable players in the 2021 African Cup of Nations. Having previously played in different youth ranks of the English national football team, Wilfried Zaha had already played in the 2018 and 2019 African Cup of Nations for the Ivory Coast national football team, and the 2021 edition in Cameroon was his third appearance in the most prestigious football competition in the black continent. 

While before the start of the tournament, there were high expectations both from the Ivory Coast national football team and Wilfried Zaha as one of the team’s best and most valuable football players, both disappointed and the team had to face an early exit from the tournament. In the first group stage match against Equatorial Guinea, which finished in a 0-1 win for the Ivorian national football team, Wilfried Zaha only played 19 minutes of the match as he came in to replace Maxwel Cornet in the 71st minute of the match.

In the second group stage match against Sierra Leone, coach Patrice Beaumelle trusted Wilfried Zaha and, this time, started him from the very start of the match as their left-winger. In the 25th minute, Zaha gave the assist of the first goal to his teammate and Ajax star Sebastian Heller. In the 82nd minute of the match, Zaha was replaced by Jean Evrard Kouassi. In the last group match against Algeria, which finished in a 3-1 win for the Ivory Coast national team, Zaha entered the pitch in the 85th minute to play just five minutes.

In the round of 16 match against Egypt, Wilfried Zaha entered the pitch in the 72nd minute to replace Max Gradel. After the match finished 0-0 after 120 minutes, the winner had to be decided in the penalty shootouts. Wilfried Zaha converted the fifth penalty for his team, but in the end, the Ivory Coast national team lost the match 5-4 on penalties. Wilfried Zaha, who is considered as one of the top 10 best players in Africa 2021, will be eagerly waiting to help his team qualify for the 2022

in Qatar and thus continue his good performances there.

Riyad Mahrez

• Date of birth: 21 February 1991 (age 30)

• Place of birth: Sarcelles, France

• Height: 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)

• Position: Winger

• Market Value: €40.00 m

If you ask every football fan who has watched the 2021 African Cup of Nations which team was the most disappointing team of this year, the answer will undoubtedly be the Algerian national team. The defending champions of the tournament came to Cameroon with every chance of winning their third overall and second consecutive African Cup of Nations title, but they said goodbye to the competition on the group stage. The situation was no different for the Algerian star Riyad Mahrez, who was considered one of the most valuable players in the 2021 African Cup of Nations with a total market value of 40 million euros.

This was the fourth time that the Manchester City star was playing in an African Cup of Nations tournament, and it turned out to be his worst. While Riya Mahrez had one goal and one assist in 2015, two goals and one assist in 2018 and three goals in the 2019 African Cup of Nations in Egypt, but this year, he failed to score a goal or provide an assist to his teammates. 

Except for Algeria’s first group stage match against Sierra Leone, which finished in a goalless draw, in which Riyad Mahrez was one of the best players of his team and got a rating of 7.56 from WhoScored, but in the next two group stage matches, he was unable to provide good performances for his country against Equatorial Guinea and Ivory Coast and had to say an early goodbye to the 2021 African Cup of Nations. Whatever performance we have seen from him, Mahrez is is still one of the most valuable African players of all time.

Edmond Tapsoba

• Date of birth: 2 February 1999 (age 23)

• Place of birth: Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

• Height: 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)

• Position: Centre-back

• Market Value: €40.00 m

With a market value of 40 million euros, Edmond Tapsoba is the only footballer from Burkina Faso to appear in our list of most valuable players in the 2021 African Cup of Nations. Since his arrival in the Bayer 04 Leverkusen and the German Bundesliga, the 23 years old central defender has seen his market value increase, and with such great performances that we saw from him in the 2021 African Cup of Nations, there is a great chance that his market value will increase more in the next update of the market values.

Edmond Tapsoba was playing in his first-ever African Cup of Nations this year. Before the start of the competition, however, Tapsoba tested positive for Covid-19 and, as a result, missed the opening match of Burkina Faso against Cameroon, which finished in a 2-1 defeat for them. From that match forward, Edmond Tapsoba played in all of Burkina Faso national team matches in the competition without losing a single minute of play.

After winning their second group stage match against Caper Verde and getting a 1-1 draw against

in the third match, Burkina Faso qualified for the round of 16, where they had to face Gabon. In that match, after a 1-1 finish, the fate of the match had to be decided on penalties. Edmond Tapsoba converted the fourth penalty of his team, and in the end, it was Burkina Faso who won the match 8-7 on penalties.

In the quarterfinal, Edmon Tapsoba and his teammate recorded a 1-0 win against Tunisia before losing 3-1 to the future champions Senegal in the semifinal match. In the third-place playoff match against the host nation Cameroon, the match finished 3-3 after 120 minutes, and in the penalties, it was Cameroon who won the game. With such great performance, Burkina Faso surely deserved a place in the African national teams' rankings in 2021.

Kalidou Koulibaly

• Date of birth: 20 June 1991 (age 30)

• Place of birth: Saint-Dié-des-Vosges, France

• Height: 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)

• Position: Centre-back

• Market Value: €45.00 m

Another Senegalese footballer to appear in our list of most valuable players in the 2021 African Cup of Nations, Kalidou Koulibaly, is also the most valuable defender who played in the 2021 African Cup of Nations. With a total market value of 45 million euros, Kalidou Koulibaly is currently the sixth most valuable player who participated in the 2021 African Cup of Nations.

The 30 years old central defender of the Senegalese national team was playing in his third African Cup of Nations after he was part of the Senegalese national team in the 2017 and the 2019 editions. After being defeated by Algeria in the final match of the 2019 African Cup of Nations, he and the other Senegalese footballers was hoping that they would win the title this year, and they were able to do so.

Just before the start of the 2021 African Cup of Nations, Kalidou Koulibaly and some other Senegalese footballers tested positive for Covid-19 and thus, he missed the first two group stage matches against Zimbabwe and Guinea. After the return of the Senegalese national team captain in the third group stage match against Malawi, Kalidou Koulibaly played in all of the matches up to the final.

In the knockout round of the 2021 African Cup of Nations, Koulibaly was amongst the best players of his national team and even gave an assist in the semifinal match against Burkina Faso, which finished in a 3-1 win for them and in doing so, they made it to the final of the tournament. In the final match against Egypt, after the two teams played 120 minutes without scoring goals, it was Koulibaly who scored the first penalty for his national team. Senegal won the penalties 4-2, and thus they won the African Cup of Nations for the first time.

Franck Kessié

• Date of birth: 19 December 1996 (age 25)

• Place of birth: Ouragahio, Ivory Coast

• Height: 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)

• Position: Central midfielder

• Market Value: €48.00 m

He is just another midfielder and the fourth Ivorian footballer to appear on our list of most valuable players in the 2021 African Cup of Nations. With a total market value of 48 million euros, Franck Kessie is trailing the Nigerian defensive midfielder Wilfred Ndidi, and with the strong performances we are seeing from him at AC Milan, many believe that he will be able to even make it to the top three of the most valuable African players list.

The 25 years old central midfielder Franck Kessie was already participating in his third African Cup of Nations this year, and we saw some strong performances from him. After playing against Equatorial Guinea and Sierra Leone in the group stage, the strong AC Milan midfielder put on an amazing performance in his country’s third match in the competition, where he managed to score one of his team’s goals against Algeria, thus helping Ivory Coast advance to the round of 16.

While many football experts believe that Ivory Coast can be one of the teams with a chance of winning the African Cup of Nations, much like Nigeria, the Ivory Coast failed to get past the round of 16. In that match, in which they had to face Egypt, Franck Kessie unfortunately only managed to play for thirty minutes as he was injured and replaced by Geoffroy Seroy Die. Some experts believed that if the Ivory Coast national team had Franck Kessie for the whole match, they would have a much greater chance of beating the Egyptian national team.

Stay tuned for more of the best players at AFCON 2022 and the other most valuable African players who appeared in the tournament.

Wilfred Ndidi

• Date of birth: 16 December 1996 (age 25)

• Place of birth: Lagos, Nigeria

• Height: 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)

• Position: Defensive midfielder

• Market Value: €60.00 m

With a market value of 60 million euros, the talented Nigerian defensive midfielder Wilfred Ndidi is a part of our list of most valuable players in the 2021 African Cup of Nations. The 25 years old Nigerian has seen his market value increase since his arrival at Leicester City in 2017, and with brilliant performances, we saw from him in the 2021 African Cup of Nations, he will definitely be able to increase his market value even further. 

After taking part in the 2019 African Cup of Nations in Egypt, this was the second time that he was playing in the tournament. While the Nigerian national team had a rather unfortunate campaign in the 2021 African Cup of Nations, Wilfred Ndidi was able to play some good matches in the competition and was the key midfielder of the Nigerian national team.

Wilfred Ndidi played some great matches during the group stage of the tournament, and the WhoScored website gave him a good rating of at least 7.3 during those three matches against Egypt, Sudan and Guinea-Bissau. In the round of 16 match against Tunisia, not only Wilfred Ndidi but also the whole Nigerian team had a rather poor match, which resulted in their elimination from the 2021 African Cup of Nations. As a young player, we will hear more from him, who is considered as one of the most handsome black footballers.

Achraf Hakimi

• Date of birth: 4 November 1998 (age 23)

• Place of birth: Madrid, Spain

• Height: 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)

• Position: Right-back

• Market Value: €70.00 m

The third footballer in the list of most valuable players in the 2021 African Cup of Nations is the 23 years old fullback of Paris Saint-Germain and the Morocco national team Achraf Hakimi. The talented right-back, who started his football in the youth ranks of Real Madrid, has the experience of playing for some big European clubs, including Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain. 

According to many experts, Achraf Hakimi was the best right-back of the 2021 African Cup of Nations, and with great performance up to the quarterfinals, he just proved them right. In the third group stage match of the Moroccan national team, the talented Parisian fullback scored a beautiful free-kick goal against Gabon, which was his first goal in the competition.

In the next round of 16 match against Malawi, Achraf Hakimi once again scored a free-kick goal to help Morocco win 2-1 and secure a place in the quarterfinal. In that match, Achraf Hakimi and Morocco had to face Mohamed Salah and Egypt. After giving an assist to the only goal of his team in the second half, they were unable to escape defeat against the Egyptians, and they were thus eliminated from the competition. With a market value of 70 million euros, many pundits believe that Achraf Hakimi has the ability to crown the title of most valuable African footballer in the coming years.

Sadio Mané

• Date of birth: 10 April 1992 (age 29)

• Place of birth: Bambali, Sédhiou, Senegal

• Height: 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)

• Position: Forward / Winger

• Market Value: €80.00 m

In the 2021 African Cup of Nations, one of the most discussed players was the leading star of Liverpool and Senegal team Sadio Mane. This was his fourth African Cup of Nations, as the 29 years old Senegalese star had previously been a part of his national team in 2015, 2017 and 2019 African Cup of Nations. As his teammate at Liverpool Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane was also present in all of his team’s matches in the 2021 African Cup of Nations.

In their opening match in the competition, it was Sadio Mane who scored the only goal of his team against Zimbabwe, thus making a flying start to the tournament. For his next goal in the 2021 African Cup of Nations, Sadio Mana had to wait until the round of 16 match against

, when he scored one of the two goals of Senegal. In the quarterfinal match against Equatorial Guinea, Mane was also an important figure for Senegal on the pitch, as he provided an assist.

According to many pundits, the best performance of Sadio Mane in the 2022 African Cup of Nations came in the semifinal match against Burkina Faso, where the talented winger scored a goal and gave an assist to his teammate, as the Senegalese national team won 1-3 to make it to the final of the prestigious African tournament. With a market value of 80 million euros, he is currently the second most valuable players in the 2021 African Cup of Nations and one of the most valuable African players of all time.

Mohamed Salah

• Date of birth: 15 June 1992 (age 29)

• Place of birth: Nagrig, Basyoun, Egypt

• Height: 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)

• Position: Forward

• Market Value: €100.00 m

As you might have guessed it right, the most valuable player in the 2021 African Cup of Nations was the impressive Egyptian star and the talented forward of the Liverpool team, Mohamed Salah. With a total market value of 100 million euros, Mo Salah is also one of the top 10 most valuable football players in the world currently.

After participating in the 2017 and 2019 editions of the African Cup of Nations, this was the third time that Salah played for the

in the African Cup of Nations, with many football fans from Egypt hoping that he could lead them to glory this year. With playing in all of the seven matches of the Egypt national team in the 2021 African Cup of Nations, he guided the team to the final but was unable to help the team win the tournament. 

Just like the 2017 and 2019 editions of the African Cup of Nations, this year, Mohamed Salah once again managed to score two goals for his national team, with his first goal coming in the second group stage match against Guinea-Bissau. In the round of 16 match against Ivory Coast, after the match went into penalties, it was Salah who converted the winning penalty and helped his team make it to the quarterfinal.

 In the quarterfinal match against Morocco, Mohamed Salah put on a performance, much like what we often see him in Liverpool. In that match, Salah scored the first goal of Egypt in the 53rd minute to equalize the match. After the match went to the extra time, it was Mo Salah who provided the assist to Trezeguet, making it 2-1 for Egypt with a beautiful right-footed shot. However, after winning against Cameroon, Egypt and Salah failed to win against Senegal and thus finished as runner-up.

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