Africans have always played football. Indeed, some of the Best footballers the planet has ever seen, including the likes of Didier Drogba, Jay Jay Okocha, and Yaya Toure, are all of African origin. A few African players have also acquired foreign nationalities to play for other countries, which gives us a lot of pride. Most of these top African footballers ply their trade abroad for the biggest Football Leagues in the world such as the English Premier League, the German Bundesliga, the Italian Serie A, the French League 1, and the Spanish La Liga. Again, we must be proud of this because we want Africans to be the best and to achieve this they must play at the highest possible level. But, what if these stars were to come back home? What if they came back to Africa and were looking to play for an African Football Club? Which are the best clubs around that they could consider joining?
Here is a list of the top 10 Football Clubs in Africa I would be proposing to our top talents if they ever showed interest in playing for a club on the home soil.
1. TP Mazembe – Congo DR
Tout Puissant Mazembe (TP Mazembe), formerly known as Englebert is probably the highest ranked football club in Africa. The Congolese club is based in Lubumbashi and play their games in the Stade TP Mazembe located along the Kalamondo suburbs. TP Mazembe has annual revenue of €14 million. The attendance is 18,000.
2. Al-Merrikh Sudan
Al-Merrikh is an Omdurman based Sudanese football club who play at Al-Merrikh Stadium – locally popular as the Red Castle. The club is one of the oldest in the whole of Africa and has won the Sudan Premier League 18 times. Al-Merrikh was founded in 1908 and was the first club to win the Sudan football championship back in 1934.
3. Esperance de Tunis – Tunisia
Esperance de Tunis is a Tunis based Tunisian football club. It was founded in January 1919. They play at the Stade Olimpique d’El Menzah. Esperance have won the Tunisian League 26 times, the Tunisian Cup 14 times, and the Tunisian Super cup twice. They have also won two CAF Champions Leagues, two Arab Club Championship cups, and an Arab Super Cup.
4. Raja Casablanca – Morocco
Raja is an Arabic word for “hopefulness.” Raja was founded in 1949 and is currently the most well-known club outside Morocco. In 2000, it was ranked third by CAF’s top clubs of the past decade. Raja has won the Moroccan domestic title 10 times. They were the first African Club to participate in the FIFA World Club Championships in 2000 in Brazil.
5. Al Hilal Omdurman – Sudan
This is another Sudanese football club. It was founded in February 1930 and is based in Omdurman. They have won the Sudan Premier League seven times in the last 9 seasons alone and have been crowned champions of the competition 27 times in total.
6. AS Vita Club – Congo DRC
Association Sportive Vita Club is a Congolese football club. The club is based in Kinshasa. AS Vita was founded in 1935 and have since gone on to win the Linafoot 12 times and the Coupe du Congo nine times. They’ve also won the Challenge Papa Kalala twice and were crowned champions of the African Cup of Champions Clubs in 1973.
7. Kaizer Chiefs – South Africa
They are the “Amakhosi”, “Chiefs”, or “Lords” of the South African football. The Kaizer Chiefs play at Soccer City in Soweto also known as FNB Stadium. They’ve won the Premier Soccer League thrice, the National Soccer League thrice and were once the African Cup Winners.
8. Al Ahly – Egypt
El Ahly means “The National” in English. The Egyptian football club was founded in April 1907. In 2000, it was named the Africa Club of the Century by CAF. Al Ahly has 126 official trophies – 19 international and 107 domestic. The 19 international trophies make Al-Ahly the most successful football club on earth, better than AC Milan and Boca Juniors.
9. Dynamos – Zimbabwe
Dynamos Football Club was formed in 1963 after a merger of Harare Township and Rhodesia. Since then, they’ve won 15 Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League titles and the Cup of Zimbabwe five times.
10. El Zamalek – Egypt
El Zamalek is an Egyptian football club based in Giza. They have won 22 Egyptian Cups, 11 League titles, 5 CAF Champions League titles and 3 CAF Super Cups as well as an African Cup Winners Cup.
Summary
There are about a thousand professional football clubs in Africa, but these 10 are unquestionably the best of the lot.
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