Sport
Peerless
George Weah
born 1966
The only African to win the Ballon d'Or, and later Liberia's president
Peerless is level 1 of 4 in the Liberia Hall of Fame: changed the field itself. Tell the country's story without them and the story breaks. See how the levels work.
Why they are here
In 1995 he became the first African player to win both the Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year, and two decades later was elected president of his country.
George Manneh Oppong Weah grew up in Clara Town, a crowded quarter of Monrovia, raised largely by his grandmother. He was playing for Invincible Eleven when Claude Le Roy spotted him, and moved to Tonnerre Yaoundé in Cameroon and then, on Arsène Wenger's recommendation, to Monaco in 1988.
He went on to Paris Saint-Germain, where he was the Champions League's leading scorer, and to AC Milan, where he won two Serie A titles. In 1995 he was named African Footballer of the Year, FIFA World Player of the Year and winner of the Ballon d'Or in the same year — no one else has done that, and no other African has won the Ballon d'Or at all. His goal for Milan against Verona, run the length of the field from his own penalty area, is among the most replayed in the game.
He played through Liberia's civil war, captaining a national team he largely financed himself — paying for kit, flights and hotels out of his own salary so that the country had a side at all. He was named African Player of the Century.
He stood for the presidency in 2005 and lost to Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, became a senator, and won the presidency in 2017, taking office in January 2018 in Liberia's first transfer of power between elected presidents in seventy-four years. He lost the 2023 election to Joseph Boakai and conceded before the count was complete.
He went on to Paris Saint-Germain, where he was the Champions League's leading scorer, and to AC Milan, where he won two Serie A titles. In 1995 he was named African Footballer of the Year, FIFA World Player of the Year and winner of the Ballon d'Or in the same year — no one else has done that, and no other African has won the Ballon d'Or at all. His goal for Milan against Verona, run the length of the field from his own penalty area, is among the most replayed in the game.
He played through Liberia's civil war, captaining a national team he largely financed himself — paying for kit, flights and hotels out of his own salary so that the country had a side at all. He was named African Player of the Century.
He stood for the presidency in 2005 and lost to Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, became a senator, and won the presidency in 2017, taking office in January 2018 in Liberia's first transfer of power between elected presidents in seventy-four years. He lost the 2023 election to Joseph Boakai and conceded before the count was complete.
Spotted something wrong? Tell us and we will check it.