Football is a team sport which often tends to highlight individualities. The ranking of the top scorers is often closely scrutinized and CAN 2024 is no exception.

For the moment, Emilio Nsué, despite the elimination of Equatorial Guinea by Guinea in the round of 16, is still first in the ranking. And few of his pursuers are still in the running.

Émilio Nsué, top scorer?

For the moment, the top scorer in the CAN plays in the 3rd Spanish division: the Equatorial Guinean Emilio Nsue is in the lead with five goals scored in four matches.

A hat-trick against Guinea-Bissau (4-2) and a double against Ivory Coast (4-0) allowed the striker and captain to get ahead of his competitors with a more prestigious pedigree than his own. .

In an interview with France 24, he made it a personal objective. There is no doubt that he would have preferred it to be by taking Equatorial Guinea further in the competition, but the lead taken could prove sufficient.

#GNEGNB Man of the match Emilio Nsue makes scoring rankings a goal #F24 pic.twitter.com/e4bPQOEVKc

— Romain Houeix (@RHoueix) January 18, 2024

Ademola Lookman, only competitor?

Indeed, his direct pursuers, the Angolan Gelson Dala and the Egyptian Mostafa Mohamed, who scored four goals each, are already eliminated. Same observation for five of the six players to have scored three goals, Baghdad Bounedjah (Algeria), Mabululu (Angola), Bertrand Traoré (Burkina Faso), Mohamed Bayo (Guinea), Lassine Sinayoko (Mali).

That leaves Ademola Lookman. After a goalless group stage, the Nigeria striker is back strong in the rankings. He scored twice in the round of 16 against Cameroon, then the winning goal against Angola in the quarterfinals. And he still has two matches to play with the semi-final on Wednesday February 7, then the small or grand final. He will need to score two goals to equalize Nsué's score and thus surpass him. Indeed, in the event of a tie, it is the number of assists offered to a teammate which is the deciding factor.

Two other competitors could join the fight for the Golden Boot of the competition: Themba Zwane (South Africa) and Yoane Wissa (DR Congo), who both scored two goals. However, it would take at least three goals for the first to overtake Emilio Nsué thanks to his assist, and four for the second. 

The complete ranking

5 goals

:

1. Emilio Nsue Lopez, Equatorial Guinea

4 goals:

2. Mostafa Mohamed, Egypt

2. Gelson Dala, Angola

3 goals:

4. Ademola Lookman, Nigeria

4. Baghdad Bounedjah, Algeria

4. Mabululu, Angola

4. Lassine Sinayoko, Mali

4. Bertrand Traoré, Burkina Faso

4. Mohamed Bayo, Guinea

2 goals:

10. Themba Zwane, South Africa

10. Mohammed Kudus, Ghana

10. Yoane Wissa, DR Congo

10. Jordan Ayew, Ghana

10. Ryan Mendes, Cape Verde

10. Lamine Camara, Senegal

10. Habib Diallo, Senegal

The France 24 summary of the week

invites you to look back at the news that marked the week

I subscribe

Take international news everywhere with you! Download the France 24 application