Soccer is one of the most egalitarian and engaging sport in the world, representing players from all nationalities and with different religious background. With an estimated 3.5bn fans, football (soccer) is the undisputed most watched sport on the planet. It doesn’t matter whether you are black or white, rich or poor, Muslim or Christian, soccer is a beautiful game for everyone. Many Muslim football players have been contributing to football over a long history. Their spectacular performance dazzle their fans.
Muslim soccer stars come from different countries and even different continents around the world. Some are of French descent and some are of Turkish descent, like many German players whose parents or grandparents immigrated to Central Europe after World War II. Some other notable players have converted to Islam, such as Franck Ribery, former France International player.
In no particular order here are 10 of the best Muslim football players in the world.
Karim Benzema (Real Madrid, France)
As one of the most popular Muslim players in Europe, Karim Mostafa Benzema was born on the 19 December 1987 in Lyon. He is a French professional footballer who plays as a striker for Spanish club Real Madrid and the France national team.
Benzema has been described as a talented striker who is both strong and a potent finisher on the pitch. Benzema secured 3 Champions League won in 2017, 2016, and 2014 in the final match with Real Madrid.
As a practicing Muslim, Benzema observes fasting during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. His grandfather, Da Lakehal Benzema, lived in the village of Tigzirt, located in the northern town of Beni Djellil in Algeria before migrating to Lyon, where he eventually settled in the 1950s.
Benzema’s father, Hafid, was born in Tigzirt, while his mother, Wahida Djebbara, was born and raised in Lyon. Benzema is the third youngest in the family and grew up with eight other siblings in Bron, an eastern suburb of Lyon.
His younger brothers Gressy and Sabri are also footballers. In 2014, his daughter Mélia was born and his son Ibrahim was born in 2017.
Mohamed Salah (Liverpool, Egypt)
Mohamed Salah, born 15 June 1992, is an Egyptian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Premier League club and the Egypt national team. Considered one of the best players in the world, he is known for his finishing, dribbling, and speed.
Salah has been a revelation for the club, winning the Premier League golden boot in both of his campaigns and playing a leading role in the 2019 Champions League triumph, scoring the opening goal in the final from the penalty spot.
Playing for Liverpool and Egypt as a right-winger/striker, Salah is renowned for his intricate dribbling and fantastic finishing which saw him break the single-season record of goals in the 2017/18 season with 32 goals and 10 assists.
Sadio Mane (Liverpool FC, Senegal)
Sadio Mane, born 10 April 1992, is a Senegalese professional footballer who plays as a winger for Premier League club Liverpool and the Senegal national team.
The Muslim superstar was one of the most expensive signings of the 2016/17 season. The Senegal man was one of the best players in the Premier League last season and Mane credited religion with playing a huge role in his success.
In an earlier interview, Mane spoke about the importance of Islam in his life: “Religion is very important to me. I respect the rules of Islam and I pray five times a day, always. I won’t touch alcohol. There was no conflict between religion and the fact that I wanted to play football. I was brought up correctly and in the right way and my parents are proud of the fact that I am a footballer.”
Playing as left winger/striker for Liverpool and Senegal, Sadio Mane is widely known as a complete player with his finishing, pace, and ability to shoot with either foot. In the 2019 Ballon d’Or, Sadio Mane ranked 4th and has formed a great relationship with teammates Mohammad Salah and Roberto Firmino, helping Liverpool win the Champions league in 2019 and Premier league in 2020.
Paul Pogba (Manchester United, France)
Paul Labile Pogba, born 15 March 1993, is a French professional footballer who plays for Premier League club Manchester United and the French national team.
Pogba was born in Lagny-sur-Marne, Seine-et-Marne, to Guinean parents. His mother practiced Islam but did not raise her three sons to be Muslim. However the Manchester United midfielder connected with religion as an adult through friends, and says Islam is often misunderstood.
In an interview on LifeTimes podcast, the footballer revealed he turned to Islam when he was “questioning himself over a lot of things” which made him “more peaceful inside.”
“It made me change, realize things in life … It was a good change in my life because I wasn’t born a Muslim, even if my mum was. I just grew up like that, respect for everyone,” he said.
Representing the French national team, Pogba was integral to the French midfield in their 2018 World Cup run which saw them champion.
Mesut Özil (Fenerbahçe, Germany)
Mesut, born 15 October 1988, is a German professional footballer who used to play for the Premier League club Arsenal as an attacking midfielder. He is currently playing for Turkish team Fenebahce. He can also be deployed as a winger.
He is well-known for his technical skills and creativity, agility, finesse, and versatility as an attacking midfielder. He won World Cup with Germany team in 2014 and played in three consecutive World Cup from 2010 to 2018. On club level, he won La Liga multiple times with Real Madrid (Spain) and FA Cup with Arsenal (England).
Özil is a practicing Muslim. He recites from the Quran before his matches. He said, “I always do that before I go out [on the pitch]. I pray and my teammates know that they cannot talk to me during this brief period.”
He observes fasting during the Islamic month of Ramadan, but he has admitted that: “Because of my job I cannot follow Ramadan properly. I do it only the few days I can, only when I have a free day. But other than that it’s impossible, because you have to drink and eat a lot to stay at peak fitness.”
Edin Dzeko (Roma, Bosnia and Herzegovina)
As another top Muslim footballer, Edin Dzeko is born on the 17thg of March 1986. The Bosnian professional footballer plays as a striker for Seria A club Roma and the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team, captaining both teams. He won English Premier League with Manchester City in 2010-11.
The Bosnian striker has been successful wherever he has played especially for Bundesliga club Wolfsburg, Premier League side Manchester City and his current side AS Roma.
An absolute superstar in his home country of Bosnia, Dzeko is also multilingual and capable of speaking 4 languages – Bosnian, Czech, German and English fluently. He is also involved in plenty of charitable ventures and even became his country’s first UNICEF ambassador.
Granit Xhaka (Arsenal, Switzerland)
Granit Xhaka, born 27 September 1992, is a Swiss professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League club Arsenal and captains the Swiss national team.
Xhaka was born in the city of Basel, Switzerland into an Albanian family from Kuršumlija, then part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, now Serbia.
His father Ragip was a political prisoner. At the age of 22, as a student at University of Pristina, he was arrested for participating in a 1986 student demonstration against the central government in Belgrade, and served three and a half years of a six-year prison sentence before being released in 1990. Their family moved from Podujevo, District of Pristina to Switzerland that year.
His older brother, Taulant Xhaka, is a professional footballer and plays for FC Basel and the Albania national team.
Xhaka was part of the Swiss team that won the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup. He made his senior debut in 2011 and has won 100 caps, representing the nation at the FIFA World Cup in 2014 and 2018, UEFA European Championship in 2016 and 2022.
Emre Can (Borussia Dortmund, Germany)
Emre Can, born 12 January 1994, is a German professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Borussia Dortmund on loan from Italian club Juventus, and the Germany national team. Can was born in Frankfurt but his parents are Turkish.
In 2013, he was signed by Liverpool for £9.75 million where he made over 150 appearances across all competitions before joining Juventus in 2018. In 2020 he joined Borussia Dortmund, initially on a loan before moving on a permanent deal a few weeks later.
Ngolo Kante (Chelsea, France)
Ngolo Kante is one of soccer’s fastest-rising stars in the world, currently playing for Chelsea. His first major win was when Chelsea defeated Manchester City in 2021 to win the UEFA Champions League. He became the man of the match by having a stellar game, including a goal and a brilliant assist. This was Kante’s first season with Chelsea after moving from Leicester City, winning the Premier League in 2020. He has since become a key player for the team.
He was born in Paris to Malian parents who migrated to France from Mali in 1980. In addition to being a talented soccer player, Ngolo Kante is also a practicing Muslim. He prays at least five times each day, studies Arabic, and regularly gives to charity.
Franck Ribery (Salernitana., France)
Franck Henry Pierre Ribéry, born in April 7, 1983, is a French professional footballer who currently plays for and captains Serie A club Salernitana. However, the highlights of his career including nine Bundesliga title and one UEFA championship with Bayern Munich. He also played for France in two World Cups and two Euro championships.
As one of the greatest wingers of all time, Ribery converted to Islam in 2002 after being inspired by his wife Wahiba who is of Algerian descent. So, he is among those footballers who have converted to Islam. He also added the name Bilal after his conversion.
Speaking about his conversion from Christianity to Islam, Ribery said – “Religion is my personal thing. I am a believer and since I converted to Islam, I think, I became stronger, I became mentally and physically stronger. Religion did not change my personality or my perception of the world. I pray five times a day, I do it because it enables me to be released and I feel better afterwards”
