Good football is played in Africa and the continent has continually produced some of the world’s best football players. Which are the best top professional football leagues in Africa? Here is review of biggest and best football leagues in African continent.
Just as obtained across most countries of the world, football leagues are organised and supervised by countries football association (FA) as a major sports entertainment, development and youth engagements.
Across Africa,there are numerous professional football leagues played alongside the continent elite league called CAF champions league.
In this article, the ranking of the best football leagues in Africa will be done to ascertain Africa’s best football leagues.
Development of football sports in Africa has been largely hampered by inadequate finance and infrastructure.
This has led to football not being exploited to reach its potential in Africa.
Good football league is a good template for development of soccer game.
Also, having a good and high professional football league in a country helps in performance at international tournaments and competitions as we have seen in Europe and South America.
The success and performance of top professional football leagues in Africa has not gone unnoticed at the continental biggest football tournament, AFCON.
Countries with best football leagues in Africa has continued to dominate and provide imposing performance at the Africa’s Cup of Nations.
Sometimes, some player’s who are starting out their football careers often seek to play in the best leagues in Africa as way of developing their football potentials.
In this post, we will be rating all registered professional football leagues in Africa.
Through this write up, readers and those in interested in finding the best football league in Africa will be in the know.
To provide objectivity and credibility, certain criteria will be employed in accessing Africa’s best football leagues.
Some of the core criteria to be used in evaluation of best football leagues in Africa will be:
Infrastructure
Performance at CAF Tournament
Goals Per Games Played
Red Cards Per Games Played
Top to Bottom Point Gap
These are some of the yardsticks we will use to measure and find out which football league is the best in Africa.
Infrastructure – facilities like good pitch, stadiums, training pitch are some of the things that contributes to upgrading and uplifting of a league.
Players perform better when they are exposed to solid and standard infrastructure like good pitch and training facilities.
This is why we will put this into cognizance when choosing the best football leagues in Africa.
We will be looking at the football leagues in Africa with the most beautiful and standard stadiums , pitch etc as one of the parameters for rating the best football leagues in Africa.
CAF Tournament Performance – We will also be assessing the best and top leagues in Africa based on performance of the representatives at Africa continental club competitions.
This is imperative as can be seen in Europe, continental club competitions are mostly dominated by best leagues and top divisions.
We will look at which leagues have dominated CAF club tournaments.
Goals for All Games Played – Goals is the period of climax of a football game. This is why goals in football matches are very important and vital.
Matches without goal or goals are usually less entertaining compared to those with loads of goals.
So, here we will look at the total number of goals scored within the entire number of games played.
This one of the criteria we will be using to judge the best football leagues in Africa.
The number of goals scored will be divided with the total number of games played to ascertain the average number of goals per game in the leagues in Africa.
Red Cards Per Games Played -The number of red cards given during all games played was considered in deciding the best top professional football leagues in Africa as it showcases how discipline a league is.
Red cards can leave games pushed to extremes and unequal.
Hence,it is one of the good ways of finding poor performing football leagues in Africa.
Points Gap Between Top & Buttom Teams -The difference or disparity in points between the top of the league teams and Buttom teams is used to see how competitive a league is.
This is why it was used in examining Africa’s best football leagues.
Africa’s Best Football Leagues
We considered CAF ranking systems and club teams seeding in CAF club tournaments in coming up with the list of the best football leagues in Africa.
It also includes their points rankings and wins. Here is the top & best football leagues in Africa 2023.
1. Morocco – Botola Pro
- Ranking: 190 points
- Number of entrants: 2
- Win by Nation: 6
The top professional football league in Morocco known as the Botola Pro is currently ranked the best football league in Africa.
The north African top tier football division is one of the most entertaining and competitive football leagues in Africa.
Furthermore more, their infrastructure for league football is among the best and most standards in Africa.
Club teams from this football league have continually dominate CAF champions league which is the elite clubs competition tournament in Africa.
Some of the top club football teams in the Morrocean Botola Pro league include: Wydad Athletic Club, Olympique Khouribga, Raja Casablanca and Hassania Agadir.
2. Egypt – Egyptian Premier League
- Ranking: 167 points
- Number of entrants: 2
- Win by Nation: 15
The Egyptian Premier League is one of the top best football leagues in Africa from all statistics.
It is also one of the football leagues in Africa with the best clubs.
The performance of clubs from the league as well as infrastructure is some of the things that stand Egyptian Premier League out as one of the Africa’s best football leagues.
It is also one of the richest football leagues in Africa where players salary is decent.
Some of the best top clubs in Egypt includes: Al Ahly, Zamalek, Al Masry & Ismaily.
3. Tunisia – Ligue Professionnelle 1
- Ranking: 140 points
- Number of entrants: 2
- Win by Nation: 6
Another North Africa’s football league making the list of best football leagues in Africa is the Tunisia top tier football league called Ligue Professionnelle 1.
The league is played by 14 professional football clubs. The facilities in the league as well as sponsorship is one of the very best in Africa.
Since the emergence of the new CAF champions league format, Tunisia football clubs have won 6 CAF champions League titles.
Making them one of the countries with the highest CAF champions league holders.
Some top best football clubs in Tunisia includes: Espérance de Tunis, Club Africain, CS Sfaxien and Étoile du Sahel.
4. DR Congo – Vodacom Ligue 1
- Ranking: 83 points
- Number of entrants: 2
- Win by Nation: 6
Vodacom Ligue 1 is the top tier football league in DR Congo. The league is ranked one of the best on the continent based on our criteria.
Teams in this league have produced top and strong contenders at the CAF champions league.
Some notable biggest football clubs at DR Congo are TP Mazembe, AS Vita Club and DC Motema Pembe.
TP Mazembe is the best football club in DR Congo by miles and they are one of the biggest Africa’s football clubs.
5. Algeria – Algeria Ligue 1
- Ranking: 81 points
- Number of entrants: 2
- Win by Nation: 5
The Algeria Ligue 1 is the top flight football league in Algeria and also one of the best football leagues in Africa interms of infrastructure, goals and CAF champions league performance.
This is evident as the country has been performing well at Africa’s elite club tournaments and international tournaments like AFCON.
Algeria Ligue 1 is very entertaining and technical. It has contributed to easy adaptation and transition of Algerian football players in Europe.
Some of these biggest football clubs in Algeria includes: MC Alger, JS Kabylie, CR Belouizdad and CS Constantine.
6. South Africa – Premier Soccer League
- Ranking: 68.5 points
- Number of entrants: 2
- Win by Nation: 2
The Premier Soccer League is one of the Africa’s best and most interesting football leagues.
In terms of facilities and broadcasting, this is the best football league in Africa.
They also have some of the most lucrative sponsorships.
The average goals per game at PSL is 1.60 which makes it one of the leagues in Africa with most goals.
The stadiums, training pitch and facilities at South Africa Premier Soccer league is the best on the continent.
Some of the best football clubs in South Africa includes: Mamelodi Sundowns, Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs.
South Africa’s top football clubs have been performing good at continental levels.
7. Zambia – Super League
- Ranking: 43 points
- Number of entrants: 2
- Win by Nation: 0
Zambian Super League which is the top flight club football league in Zambia is rated one of the top 10 football leagues in Africa.
The league has been very competitive despite shortfalls in facilities.
The clubs from the league has represented the league well at the continental championships.
Some top football clubs in Zambia are: ZESCO United FC, Nkana FC, Zanaco F.C. and Lusaka Dynamos FC.
8. Nigeria Professional Football League – Nigeria
- Ranking: 39 points
- Number of entrants: 2
- Win by Nation: 2
Nigeria Professional Football League also known as NPFL is the top flight football division in Nigeria.
It is as well one of the best on Africa continent. The league is played by 20 football clubs and is highly rated in West Africa.
Teams from the league are regular at the CAF champions league and are also among the winners too.
Some of the biggest football clubs in Nigeria are: Enyimba FC, Kano Pillars, Enugu Rangers International and Rivers United FC.
9. Guinea- Ligue 1
- Ranking: 38 points
- Number of entrants: 2
- Win by Nation: 3
Ligue 1 of Guinea is one of the high ranking football League in Africa. The Guinea Ligue 1 is high competitive and technical too.
Teams in the league are not easily overcome especially at home games.
Teams from the league has also left their mark at the CAF champions league.
Top football clubs from Guinea includes: Ashanti GB, AS Kaloum and AC Horoya.
10. Angola – Girabola
- Ranking: 36 points
- Number of entrants: 2
- Win by Nation: 0
Angola top football league which is Girabola comes up in the list of best and most notable football leagues in Africa.
Sporting de Cabinda, Petro de Luanda and Académica do Lobito are some of the top football clubs in Angola.
Teams from Girabola performance at the CFA champions league is not bad despite the standard of facilities.
They are among the high rated football leagues in Africa.
Some Other Top Football Leagues in Africa & Ranking Points
Below is the ratings of other top professional football leagues in Africa.
11. Sudan – Sidani Premier League: 29.5
12. Libya – Libyan Premier League: 16.5
13. Tanzania – Premier League ( Ligi Kuu Bara): 14
14. Ivory Coast- Ligue 1: 13
15. Kenya – Kenyan Premier League : 11
16. Zimbabwe- Premier Soccer League: 11
17. Mozambique – Mocambola :9
18. Republic of Congo – Ligue 1:8
19. Uganda – Premier League : 8
20. Ghana – Premier League :6.5
This the current ranking and rating of the best football leagues in Africa continent.
Factors Affecting Development of Football Leagues in Africa
Football leagues in Africa has been largely underexploited due to many factors.
Some of the factors that play on development of football leagues in Africa are discussed briefly below.
Corruption– This is the major setback most football leagues in Africa suffers.
The officials of the league body and countries FA engage in sharp practices which are undermining the growth of the league such as lack of inconsistencies in moderate sharing of leagues revenues etc.
Lack of Lucrative Sponsorships – It is unfortunate that multinationals aren’t finding the leagues attractive and fertile ground for sponsorship.
Hence monies that should be gotten from sponsorship are not there and this affects the overall performance and growth of football leagues across Africa.
Incessant Government Intervention – Often in Africa, governments made unecessary intervention in football matters through laws, bye laws and orders which doesn’t help football development on the continent.
Poverty – Football fan across the continent hardly find it worthy and necessary to pay to watch their favourite teams.
In some leagues,fans gate crash and watch games free and this doesn’t help revenue of the leagues.