Didier Yves Drogba Tébily (; born 11 March 1978) is an Ivorian former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is the all-time top scorer and former captain of the Ivory Coast national team. Best known for his career at Chelsea, he is the club’s all-time top foreign goalscorer and their fourth-highest goalscorer of all time. Widely regarded as one of the greatest African players of all time, Drogba was named the African Footballer of the Year twice in 2006 and 2009. He was named in the 2007 FIFA World XI. In 2022, he was inducted into the Premier League Hall of Fame. With a record of scoring 10 goals in 10 finals, Drogba has been called the "ultimate big game player".
After playing in youth teams, Drogba made his football debut at the age of 21 for Ligue 2 club Le Mans. After four seasons, he joined Ligue 1 side Guingamp in 2002 before joining French giants Olympique de Marseille a year later. At Marseille, Drogba was awarded the Ligue 1 Player of the Year in 2003–04 and helped the club reach the 2004 UEFA Cup final. In July 2004, Drogba joined Premier League club Chelsea for £24 million. In his debut season, he helped Chelsea win their first league title in 50 years, and won another a year later. In 2006–07, Drogba earned the Premier League Golden Boot before winning it again in 2009–10 when he scored 29 goals in 32 games to help Chelsea win the Premier League title.
In March 2012, Drogba became the first African player to score 100 Premier League goals. Two months later, he scored in Chelsea's 2012 FA Cup final win over Liverpool to become the first player to score in four FA Cup finals. He also played in the 2012 UEFA Champions League final, where he scored an 88th-minute equaliser and the winning penalty in the penalty shootout against Bayern Munich. After spending six months with Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua, he moved to Turkish club Galatasaray. Drogba returned to Chelsea in July 2014, featuring heavily as Chelsea won the 2014–15 Premier League title. He joined Canadian club Montreal Impact in 2015 as a designated player before becoming a player and owner of Phoenix Rising in the United Soccer League in 2017 and retired a year later at the age of 40.
Drogba made his debut for Ivory Coast in 2002 and became the captain in 2006. He is the nation's all-time top goalscorer with 65 goals in 105 appearances. He led the Ivory Coast to the 2006 FIFA World Cup, their first appearance in the tournament, and scored their first goal. He captained Ivory Coast at the 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cups. He led Ivory Coast to two Africa Cup of Nations finals in 2006 and 2012, though they lost on penalties on both occasions. On 8 August 2014, he announced his retirement from international football.
Drogba played a vital role in solving issues in his home country and in Africa. In 2007, he was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Development Programme. In December 2018, he became Vice President of the international organization Peace and Sport.
Early life Drogba is a member of the Bété people. He was born in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, and at age five was sent to France by his parents to live with his uncle, Michel Goba, a professional footballer. But Drogba became homesick and returned to Abidjan after three years. His mother nicknamed him "Tito", after president Josip Broz Tito of Yugoslavia, whom she admired greatly. He played football every day in a car park in the city, but his return to the Ivory Coast was short-lived. Both his parents lost their jobs and he again went to live with his uncle. In 1991, his parents also travelled to France, first to Vannes and then in 1993 settling in Antony, at which point the 15-year-old Drogba returned to live with them and his siblings. There he began playing team football more frequently, joining a local youth side. Drogba then joined the semi-professional club Levallois, gaining a reputation as a prolific scorer in the youth team and impressing the coach with his professional attitude. His performances earned him a place in the senior squad but despite scoring in his debut, he failed to impress Jacques Loncar, the first-team coach.
Club career Le Mans When Drogba finished school he moved to Le Mans to study accountancy at university and changed clubs, becoming an apprentice at Ligue 2 club Le Mans. His first two years there were marred by injuries and he physically struggled to cope with the training and match schedule. Former Le Mans coach Marc Westerloppe later said, "it took Didier four years to be capable of training every day and playing every week". Furthermore, Drogba had never attended a football academy and only began daily football training as an adult.
By age 21, Drogba realised that he had to establish himself as a player soon or he would have little chance of becoming a professional. He made his first team debut for Le Mans soon thereafter and signed his first professional contract in 1999. The same year, he and his Malian wife Alla had their first child, Isaac. He grew into his new responsibilities, later saying: "Isaac's birth was a turning point in my life, it straightened me out". His first season, in which he scored seven goals in 30 games, boded well for the future, but during the next season he did not live up to expectations. Drogba lost his place to Daniel Cousin due to injury, and upon his return, failed to score for the rest of the season. He returned to form the next season, scoring five goals in 21 appearances.
Guingamp Halfway through the 2001–02 season Ligue 1 club Guingamp consolidated months of interest with a transfer offer and Drogba left Le Mans for a fee of £80,000. The second half of the 2001–02 season saw Drogba make 11 appearances and score three goals for Guingamp. While his contributions helped the club avoid relegation, the coaching staff remained unconvinced of their new young striker. But the next season he rewarded his coaches' patience, scoring 17 goals in 34 appearances and helping Guingamp finish seventh, a record league finish. He credited his teammates for his impressive season, highlighting the contributions of winger Florent Malouda, a longtime friend of Drogba, as a key factor in his goalscoring prolificity that season. His strong goal scoring record attracted interest from larger clubs, and at the end of the season, he moved to Ligue 1 side Olympique de Marseille for a fee of £3.3 million.
Marseille Olympique de Marseille signed Drogba on 30 June 2003. He played his first match in his new colours on 2 August 2003, during the first matchday of the 2003–2004 season against his former club, Guingamp. In that season Drogba emerged as one of the highest European scorers. He scored 19 league goals, winning the National Union of Professional Footballers (UNFP) Player of the Year award. He also scored 11 goals in European competitions, five goals in UEFA Champions League and six in the UEFA Cup.
At the end of the season, Drogba was a transfer priority of newly endorsed Chelsea coach José Mourinho, and was bought as the club's then record signing of £24 million. His shirt from his only season at Marseille is framed in the basilica of the city, Notre-Dame de la Garde, which he presented to the church before the 2004 UEFA Cup Final.
Chelsea 2004–06 Signing for Chelsea in July 2004 for £24 million, he became the club's record signing and the most expensive striker in English domestic football. Drogba scored in his third game for the club with a header against Crystal Palace. His season was interrupted when he pulled a stomach muscle against Liverpool which kept him out of action for over two months. Chelsea won the Premier League, only their second English top-flight championship and their first in 50 years, and the League Cup. Later, Drogba scored in extra time in a 3–2 final win against Liverpool at the Millennium Stadium, as well as reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League. Drogba scored a somewhat disappointing 16 goals in a total of 40 games for Chelsea in his first season: ten in the Premier League, five in the Champions League and one in the League Cup final.
Drogba started the 2005–06 season by scoring two goals in a Community Shield win over Arsenal. His reputation was marred amidst accusations of cheating during Chelsea's 2–0 win over Manchester City. Replays showed that he had used his hand to control the ball before scoring the second of his two goals. This occurred just a week after a similar incident against Fulham where the goal was disallowed. Chelsea went on to retain the league title with two games to play, becoming only the second club to win back-to-back English titles in the Premier League era. Again Drogba finished with 16 goals for the season, 12 in the Premier League, two in the Community Shield, one in the Champions League and one in the FA Cup.
2006–07
After the departure of Damien Duff to Newcastle United, Drogba switched from the number 15 shirt he had worn for Chelsea since 2004 to the number 11 shirt vacated by Duff. Drogba scored 33 goals in all competitions during the season (more than his tally in the previous two seasons combined), including 20 in the Premier League to win the Golden Boot. In doing so, he became the first Chelsea player since Kerry Dixon in 1984–85 to reach 30 goals in a season, scoring 20 in the Premier League, six in the Champions League, three in the FA Cup and four in the League Cup.
Among the highlights were scoring game-winners from outside the penalty area against Liverpool, Everton (from 35 yards out) and Barcelona, a 93rd-minute equaliser against Barcelona at the Camp Nou and both Chelsea's goals in their 2–1 League Cup final win over Arsenal. His goal against Liverpool saw him control the ball on his chest with his back to goal before hitting a 20-yard half-volley on the turn. Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher said, "There's not a lot you can do in certain situations because they were that good." He also completed two hat-tricks; one against Watford and the other against Levski Sofia in the Champions League, Chelsea's first hat-trick in European competition since Gianluca Vialli in the Cup Winners' Cup in 1997. In his last competitive game that season, he scored the winning goal against Manchester United in the first FA Cup final at the new Wembley Stadium. This also meant he became the only player to score in both English domestic finals in the same season and win both.
In January 2007, Drogba was named the Ivorian Player of the Year, ahead of Kader Keïta, Aruna Dindane, and Kolo Touré. In March, he was named African Footballer of the Year for the first time, ahead of Samuel Eto'o and Chelsea teammate Michael Essien. His performances during the season saw him named in the PFA Premier League Team of the Year and runner-up to Cristiano Ronaldo in the PFA Player of the Year awards.
Drogba faced problems off the pitch during the end of the season as his transfer from Marseille to Chelsea in July 2004 came under scrutiny. The Stevens inquiry in June 2007 expressed concerns because of the lack of co-operation from agents Pinhas Zahavi and Barry Silkman.
2007–08