TOP TEN AFRICANS
With Major League Soccer 2025 already starting and the new National Women’s Soccer League season just a few days away, ESPN profiles ten African players who are poised to ignite the American soccer scene this season.
There are several contenders to dominate MLS or the NWSL this season, and African players have consistently been among the top performers in the USA’s top division of men’s and women’s football in recent years.
These are our favorites.
Banda Barbra
Despite missing the beginning of the season, Zambia’s Banda emerged as the key player for the Orlando Pride, who accomplished tremendous things last year, including winning the NWSL playoffs final and shield.
Expect more excellence and goals from one of the most valuable players in the history of the sport, both financially and in terms of the team, now that she has completed a full preseason and is well-acclimated to life in the United States.
She finished the season with 17 goals after scoring in every round of the playoffs, including the game-winning goal against the Washington Spirit. Her relationship with the great Marta can also shatter defenses.
The Pride “need to put another star on our shirt,” Banda recently told ESPN, and given the results from the previous season, you would not rule out Seb Hines’ squad.
Chawinga Temwa
After an outstanding season in which she scored 20 goals, won the Golden Boot, and broke Sam Kerr’s record for the most goals scored in a single NWSL campaign, Malawi’s Chawinga defeated Banda to win MVP last season.
Chawinga was the most influential player in the league because he combined remarkable finishing skill with strength, speed, and deft off-the-ball movement. With just three players recording more assists this season, she has also demonstrated her creative effect for Kansas City Current.
Can Chawinga sustain her success and avoid “second-season syndrome” while assisting KCC in their quest for the greatest honors? She was surprisingly left off of the final three of CAF’s African Women’s Footballer of the Year shortlist, which was ultimately won by Banda.
Chawinga scored 83 goals in 84 games during her three years of outstanding consistency with her former team, Wuhan Jianghan University FC. A similar run in the States would place her among the greatest goal scorers in NWSL history.
Wilfried Zaha
Ivory Coast great Zaha lands in Major League Soccer with a point to prove, with his career having stagnated since (eventually) leaving Crystal Palace in 2023.
Despite being an inconsistent starter, he won the Turkish Super Lig with Galatasaray in his first season away from London, and OL’s financial constraints prevented him from making the loan move to Olympique Lyonnais in 2024.
A goal in his debut in the 2-0 victory over Atlanta United was the ideal way to introduce him to Charlotte FC’s supporters, who are in dire need of a new beginning.
Zaha said, “I do not care what other people think,” when he first arrived. “I simply follow my instincts and create my own history after that.
“That’s my mentality, I never follow anyone.”
At 32, he should still have such to offer, and it will be fascinating to see how his unpredictable presence can also help Dean Smith get the best out of Patrick Agyemang and Pep Biel.
Kévin Denkey
After scoring a ton of goals in the Belgian first division—37 in 55 league games since the start of 23-24—Denkey left Cercle Brugge to sign with FC Cincinnati in late 2024, breaking the MLS transfer record.
Denkey chose to play Major League Soccer despite being linked to teams in some of the top leagues in Europe, which is indicative of a growing trend of rising players choosing to advance their careers in the United States.
Expect the $16.2 million Togo international to cause MLS defenders some restless nights this season as he is an effective finisher with exceptional physical capacity.
Lath, Emmanuel Latte
Atlanta United shattered the MLS transfer record once more when they paid an incredible $22 million plus add-ons to buy Latte Lath from Championship team Middlesbrough, just over two months after Cincinnati broke it to sign Denkey.
Over the past season and a half, the Ivory Coast forward has been in outstanding form for Michael Carrick’s club, netting 27 goals as they have battled for a return to the Premier League. He made his debut for the national team following their Africa Cup of Nations victory last year.
The 26-year-old scored twice against a struggling CF Montreal in his MLS debut, proving that the Five Stripes had found a true superstar.
Following the game, Atlanta head coach Ronny Deila remarked, “He is extremely quick, and his change of direction is quite good.” “He can jump like air with his finishing, left and right feet.”
A concussion sustained in his second match — a 0-0 draw with New York Red Bulls — has been the only setback in an otherwise glittering start to his MLS career.
Kanu Uchenna
After originally attracting attention as a left winger the previous season, Kanu showed promise when assigned a more center attacking role for Racing Louisville FC. Despite missing nearly two months of action due to a knee injury, Kanu finished the season with five goals.
Bev Yanez has at least a template as she seeks to help Louisville outperform opponents and impose themselves more regularly, even though it was not enough to enable the 2019 expansion team make it to the playoffs.
The Abia-born forward has demonstrated her ability to score goals consistently with Nigeria and Tigres UANL, and Super Falcons supporters who recall her equalizer against Australia at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup know she is a player for the big time.
Bouanga, Denis
Gabon’s Bouanga was undoubtedly one of Africa’s most entertaining and possibly most underappreciated players during his time playing European football. His incredible dribbling and amazing skill made him one of France’s most brilliant players.
Given that he occasionally lost control and let attacking plays fall apart at his feet, it is possible that a move to a true European heavyweight never happened because of his maddening nature.
In Major League Soccer, where Los Angeles FC supporters can witness Bouanga’s skill in wide areas and his cutting-edge and deadly right foot, he is undoubtedly recognized.
He only scored ten goals in Ligue 1, but he scored twenty goals in each of the last two seasons in the United States, made the MLS Best XI twice, and played for LAFC in the US Open Cup.
Bouanga should be as important as ever this season in a revamped Black and Gold forward line.
Kundananji Racheal
Although it is safe to say that Kundananji has not yet had the impact that previous season’s debutants Chawinga and Banda achieved in the NWSL last term, she created headlines when she came in the United States in February 2024 and was once the most expensive women’s player in history.
Even though Kundananji scored on her Bay FC debut, she struggled to score goals because opponent defenders paid particular attention to her, maybe as a result of her transfer fee.
The striker, who is a more understated player than her Zambian teammate Banda, finished the season in excellent form and has the potential to become the league’s best player if she can regain the consistency and self-assurance she had at Madrid CFF.
Oshoala Asisat
Nigerian player Osoala’s debut season in the US was a rather low-key event in comparison to Chawinga’s goals or the excitement surrounding the entrance of Zambian duo Kundananji or Banda.
Even though Oshoala is arguably the best African player in women’s football history, everyone shrugged their shoulders when Banda defeated her as CAF’s Footballer of the Year. The Nigerian icon had won the award six times before, so she was never really in the running for it.
Although her first goal for Bay FC earned her the NWSL ‘Goal of the Week’ at the beginning of the season, she failed to earn a spot on the division’s Team of the Month and, despite her goal, failed to stop Washington Spirit is comeback victory.
She still scored seven goals in the regular season at the age of 30, so she is far from done, but she needs a strong season to regain her position as Africa’s top player.
Bamba, Jonathan
Bamba, another new MLS player, will be hoping to do better than Xherdan Shaqiri, the previous Designated Player for the Chicago Fire, who mostly fell short of expectations in the Windy City.
Gregg Berhalter saw the Ivory Coast international as a valuable addition to his revamped Fire team and paid $2 million to get the adaptable forward from Celta Vigo.
Bamba has an impressive background as an AFCON winner with the Elephants last year and a French champion with LOSC Lille. In his debut against Columbus Crew, he recorded two assists, which was twice as much as Shaqiri had in the entire previous season.
