Confederation of African Football (CAF) president Dr Patrice Motsepe has now stated that he believes the next generational footballing talent will originate from Africa.
Lionel Messi along with Cristiano Ronaldo are considered to be among the world's best-ever players, winning a whopping 13 Ballon d'Or awards between them.
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Speaking at a press conference, Motsepe highlighted the need to develop the level of the sport on the confident before claiming that the next best thing in world football will originate from the continent.
"As long as football fans worldwide are excited about Mo Salah, Sadio Mane, Victor Osimhen, and the list goes on and on, [Achraf] Hakimi. We also need to develop African football personalities," the CAF president said per GOAL South Africa.
"The next [Lionel] Messi will come from Africa; the next [Cristiano] Ronaldo is in Africa."
"We've already got victor Osimhen, [Achraf] Hakimi, I don't know, where is Mbappe from?'" He added.
In the 2023 race for what is arguably one of the greatest individual prizes in world football, three of the continent's stars ranked in the top 20.
Morocco's Yassine Bounou was the highest-ranked goalkeeper on the list, achieving 13th position. Egyptian superstar Mohamed Salah finished in 11th and Victor Osimhen led the African race in eighth spot.
The mentioned nominees are also in action during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations. Salah saved his national side's blushes with a late, stoppage time penalty that helped the Pharaohs walk away with a point against Mozambique on Sunday.
Osimhen was also in action, scoring his side's only goal in a 1-all draw with Equatorial Guinea.
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