African players of the weekend: Sinayoko, Diomandé and Maza shine (17-18 October 2026)

Every Monday, FootballAfrik rounds up the African players who shone in Europe. Here are the scorers and assist providers from the weekend of 17-18 October 2026.

Player of the weekend: Lassine Sinayoko (Mali)

What a game for the Malian forward! For Paris FC, Lassine Sinayoko scored twice and provided two assists in a thrilling 4-3 win over Rennes. He even won and converted the winning penalty in the 97th minute. A timely performance ahead of Mali's double header against Rwanda in November.

Premier League

• Bryan Mbeumo (Cameroon, Manchester United): his side's only scorer in a 1-1 draw at Leeds.
• Alex Iwobi (Nigeria, Fulham): scored the only goal of the game against Hull City (1-0).
• Iliman Ndiaye (Senegal, Manchester City): set up Erling Haaland in the 3-2 win over Ipswich.

La Liga

• Yan Diomandé (Ivory Coast, Real Madrid): an assist for Arda Güler, then a late goal against Sevilla (4-1).
• Abde Ezzalzouli (Morocco, Real Betis): scored just after half-time, despite a heavy 5-2 defeat to Barcelona.
• Bil Nsongo (Cameroon, Deportivo La Coruña): his first goal of the season against Levante (1-1). Two weeks earlier, he gave Cameroon a friendly win over Ivory Coast.

Ligue 1

• Lassine Sinayoko (Mali, Paris FC): two goals and two assists against Rennes (4-3).
• Daniel Namaso (Cameroon, Auxerre): a brace in the 3-1 win at Le Havre.
• Dembo Sylla (Guinea, Lorient): won a penalty in the 1-0 win over Monaco.

Serie A

• Ange-Yoan Bonny (Ivory Coast, Inter Milan): came off the bench to score Inter's last goal at Bologna (1-3).
• Akor Adams (Nigeria, Venezia): the only scorer against Napoli (1-0), a big result for his side.
• Fisayo Dele-Bashiru (Nigeria, Lazio): on the scoresheet in Lazio's 3-0 win at Juventus.
• Kialonda Gaspar (Angola, Lecce): opened the scoring with a header at Udinese (0-3).

Bundesliga

• Ibrahim Maza (Algeria, Bayer Leverkusen): a 19th-minute goal and an assist for Patrik Schick against Freiburg (2-1).
• Zakaria El Ouahdi (Morocco, Hamburg): assisted the only goal of the game against Stuttgart (1-0).

Summary

Read also

• African players in the Premier League 2026-27
• African players in La Liga 2026-27
• African players in the Champions League 2026-27

Who was the best African player this weekend? Tell us in the comments.

Photo: Carlos Felipe Ramírez Mesa / Unsplash