ROGER
MILLA

Milla was 37 and playing for JS Saint-Pierroise on Reunion Island when the call came. Cameroonian president Paul Biya, a long-time football fan, asked Milla to return for the 1990 World Cup squad. The team had qualified through CAF — beating Tunisia in the third round — and were drawn into Group B with Argentina, Romania and the USSR. Milla joined the squad with no expectation of a starting role.

Game 1 at the San Siro against reigning champions Argentina was the famous 1-0 win — Francois Omam-Biyik's header, two Cameroonian red cards, Benjamin Massing's challenge on Claudio Caniggia. Milla did not score but his appearance off the bench was greeted by the Italian crowd with the kind of warmth that made it clear he was the tournament's emotional centre. Game 2 against Romania in Bari ended 2-1 to Cameroon, both goals from Milla — first a low finish into the bottom corner, then a header into an empty net. The corner-flag dance debuted after the first goal and was repeated after the second. Game 3, the dead-rubber loss to the USSR, was the only goalless cameo of the tournament.

The round of 16 against Colombia in Naples on 23 June 1990 was the moment. The match went to extra time at 0-0. Milla scored at 106 minutes — a near-post finish from a tight angle. Two minutes later he scored again, this time exploiting Rene Higuita's famous moment of madness — the Colombian goalkeeper had charged 30 yards out of his penalty area to dribble past Milla, Milla took the ball, Higuita could not recover, Milla rolled into the empty net. The corner-flag dance after each goal became the defining image of African football in the 20th century. Cameroon won 2-1. The quarter-final against England at the same Naples venue on 1 July 1990 — Cameroon leading 2-1 with eight minutes left, Gary Lineker scoring two penalties to win 3-2 in extra time — was the cruel end. Milla finished with four goals and a place in the FIFA 100.

Cameroon's USA 1994 campaign was not a repeat of Italia 90. The team was drawn into Group B with Russia, Brazil and Sweden. The opening match against Sweden ended 2-2. The second match against Brazil — the eventual champions — was a 3-0 defeat. The third match against Russia at Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto on 28 June 1994 was the dead rubber, with both teams already eliminated.

Milla came on as a substitute and scored at 46 minutes — a low finish from inside the penalty area. The goal made the score 1-3 and ultimately the match ended 6-1 to Russia, with Oleg Salenko scoring five goals to set his own World Cup record (most goals by a single player in a single World Cup match). But the historical record that survived from the match was Milla's goal at 42 years and 39 days — the oldest goalscorer in World Cup history. The record has not been broken in the eight subsequent World Cups (1998 through 2022) and Milla still holds it as of 2026.

The USA 1994 cameo closed his international career at 77 caps and 43 goals — Cameroon's then-record holder for both totals, since surpassed only by Rigobert Song (caps) and Samuel Eto'o (caps and goals). Milla returned briefly to Indonesian club football at Pelita Jaya and Putra Samarinda before retiring in 1996 at 44. The post-retirement career — honorary FECAFOOT president 2008-2012, UN Goodwill Ambassador, CAF Best African Player of the last 50 years in 2007 — has been built on the cultural authority that the Italia 90 and USA 1994 World Cups gave him.

The 1976 CAF African Footballer of the Year award came when Milla was at Tonnerre Yaounde, 24 years old, and the leading striker in the Cameroonian league. The award was effectively recognition of African football's then-best young player, and arrived a year before his first European move to Valenciennes in 1977. The trophy framed him as the next-generation African superstar after the 1960s and early-1970s greats.

The continental peak came in the 1980s. AFCON 1984 in Cote d'Ivoire ended Cameroon 3-1 Nigeria in the final at Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium in Abidjan on 17 March 1984. AFCON 1986 in Egypt ended Egypt 0-0 Cameroon in the final at Cairo International Stadium on 21 March 1986 — Egypt won 5-4 on penalties. AFCON 1988 in Morocco ended Cameroon 1-0 Nigeria in the final at Stade Mohammed V in Casablanca on 27 March 1988 — Emmanuel Kunde's penalty winner. Milla contributed across all three tournaments as a senior forward, finishing as one of the top scorers in CAF tournament history for the decade.

The 1990 CAF African Footballer of the Year award — voted after the Italia 90 cameo at 38 — was the moment of full recognition. It made Milla the only player to win the award 14 years apart. The 2007 CAF Best African Player of the last 50 years honour, voted at CAF's 50th-anniversary congress in Accra, formalised his standing as the all-time greatest. Pele's 2004 FIFA 100 list, World Soccer's 100 Greatest Footballers of All Time, and IFFHS Legends inclusion completed the global hierarchy recognition.