El Hadji Diouf (Senegal)

El Hadji Diouf led Senegal to the 2002 World Cup quarterfinal — the furthest any African nation had progressed at the time — beating defending champions France in the group stage. He won the African Footballer of the Year in 2001 and 2002 back-to-back, outdoing even Yaya Touré's later achievement by winning consecutive awards before Touré's four-peat. His two consecutive awards and his tournament performance in 2002 — providing the most culturally significant African football moment since Cameroon in 1990 — make him one of the continent's most historically important players despite a career at Liverpool and later clubs that fell below his peak. Statistically, he contributed to 70% of Senegal's goals in that World Cup run, scoring three and assisting one of the team's five total goals.