29 years after winning the Ballon d’Or, George Weah remains the only African to have won the Ballon d’Or. The Liberian international won the award at AC Milan, beating Jürgen Klinsmann of FC Bayern Munich and Jari Litmanen of Champions League winners Ajax in second and third place.

Some may argue and point out that Mozambique-born Portuguese international Eusebio won the award in 1965, but the significance of Weah’s win is that Weah was only the third black player to win, after Eusebio and then Ruud Gullit in 1987 won the Ballon d’Or in 39 years.

Not only was Weah an exceptionally gifted striker, most notably for Paris Saint-Germain and AC Milan, but after his football career ended, Weah ventured into even greater heights when he was elected President of Liberia in 2017.

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Weah scored some exceptional goals in the 1990s

At times the Liberian was unstoppable at PSG and AC Milan

Weah was in his early twenties and was discovered by Arsene Wenger and brought to Monaco from Cameroonian club TKC Yaounde for just 150,000 euros. He quickly made an impact, scoring double figures in league goals in each of his four seasons with the club.

Four years after the move, in 1992, PSG paid 6.5 million euros for the striker. There, in the French capital, he led PSG to the French Ligue One title in 1994, which was only the club’s second league title at the time, but it was in Monaco under Wenger that laid the foundation for Weah’s success, which the former striker also did has been very grateful for:

He led PSG to the semi-finals of the Champions League, where they eventually lost to AC Milan. Along the way, Weah led them to famous victories over beloved FC Barcelona and FC Bayern Munich, against whom he scored a memorable goal.

Further titles followed for Weah when he moved to AC Milan in 1995 and won Serie A in 1996 and 1999. There in Italy he scored some unforgettable goals, especially the solo performance at San Siro, which is probably the one he remembers best. In his penalty area, he defended a corner, controlled the ball and ran all over the field to score.

From Ballon d’Or winner to president

Weah needed perseverance to lead his country

For many footballers, retirement can be a real problem as they struggle to find something to spend their time doing that is as fulfilling as being a professional athlete could be. That wasn’t the case with Weah. After five years in Milan he was almost in his mid-thirties. Further spells at Chelsea and Manchester City followed, but his best was already behind him.

Weah grew up in a slum in the Liberian capital Monrovia and set out to change things in his home country when he founded the Congress for Democratic Change party in 2005. His first two presidential runs were unsuccessful, but in 2014 Weah was elected senator from the western province of Montserrado.

In 2016, he again announced that he would run for the presidency and became Liberian president in December 2017. But as we know, politics is an even more volatile profession than football management, and at the end of 2023 Weah lost the election amid a general feeling that he had failed to tackle corruption, rising prices and ongoing economic difficulties.

Statistics via Transfermarkt.