Just days away from the new National Women's Soccer League season, and with Major League Soccer 2025 already underway, ESPN profile 10 African stars set to set the soccer scene Stateside ablaze this season.
African players have regularly been among the outstanding performers in the top tier of men's and women's football in the USA in recent years, and there are various contenders to take MLS or the NWSL by storm again this season.
Here are our favourites.
Barbra Banda
Orlando Pride achieved great things last year -- including winning both the NWSL playoffs final and shield -- with Zambia's Banda emerging as the champions' star player despite missing the start of the campaign.
This term, with a full preseason under her belt, and having firmly adapted to life in the US, expect more excellence, and goals, from one of the most valuable players, monetarily and team-wise, in the history of the sport.
She scored in each round of the playoffs - including the winner in the final against Washington Spirit - to end the campaign with 17 goals, and her connection with the legendary Marta is capable of eviscerating opposition defences.
Banda told ESPN recently that the Pride "need to put another star on our jersey," and based on the evidence of last term, you wouldn't put it past Seb Hines' team.
Temwa Chawinga
Malawi's Chawinga pipped Banda to the MVP last season following an exceptional year in which she bagged 20 goals, clinching the Golden Boot and breaking Sam Kerr's record for goals scored in a single NWSL campaign.
No one in the league had a higher impact than Chawinga, who married immense pace, strength, and intelligent off-the-ball movement with impressive finishing ability. She's also proved a creative influence for Kansas City Current, with only three players registering more assists over the year.
Surprisingly omitted from the final three of CAF's African Women's Footballer of the Year shortlist -- eventually won by Banda -- can Chawinga maintain her form and avoid 'second-season syndrome', while helping KCC challenge for the biggest honours?
With previous club, Wuhan Jianghan University FC, Chawinga demonstrated incredible consistency across three years -- netting 83 in 84 games -- and a similar spell in the States would establish her among the finest goalscorers in NWSL history.
Wilfried Zaha
Ivory Coast legend Zaha arrives in Major League Soccer with a point to prove, with his career having stuttered since (finally) leaving Crystal Palace in 2023.
He won the Turkish Super Lig with Galatasaray in his first season out of London - albeit as an irregular starter - and 2024's loan move to Olympique Lyonnais was curtailed amidst OL's financial limitations.
He arrives at Charlotte FC in desperate need of a fresh start, and a goal on his debut in the 2-0 victory over Atlanta United was a perfect introduction to supporters.
"I don't care what other people think," Zaha said upon his arrival. "I just go where I feel like I want to go, and then I make my own history.
"That's my mentality, I never follow anyone."
At 32, he should still have such to offer, and it will be fascinating to see how his unpredictable presence can also help Dean Smith get the best out of Patrick Agyemang and Pep Biel.
Kévin Denkey
Denkey broke the MLS transfer record when he signed for FC Cincinnati in late 2024, departing Cercle Brugge after scoring goals aplenty -- 37 in 55 league outings since the start of 23-24 -- in the Belgian top tier.
Despite being linked to clubs in some of Europe's biggest leagues, Denkey opted for Major League Soccer, highlighting a growing trend of players on the rise opting to take their careers to the next level in the States.
An efficient finisher, with excellent physical capacity, expect the $16.2m Togo international to give MLS defenders a few sleepless nights this season.
Emmanuel Latte Lath
Just over two months after Cincinnati broke the MLS transfer record to sign Denkey, Atlanta United smashed it again when they parted with a whopping $22 million plus add-ons to recruit Latte Lath from Championship side Middlesbrough.
The Ivory Coast frontman, who made his debut for the national team in the aftermath of their Africa Cup of Nations success last year, had been in exceptional form for Michael Carrick's side over the last season and a half, scoring 27 goals as they've pushed for a return to the Premier League.
The evidence of his MLS debut indicated that The Five Stripes have nabbed themselves a genuine superstar, with the 26-year-old scoring twice against a poor CF Montreal.
"He's so quick, and his change of direction is very good," Atlanta head coach Ronny Deila said after the match. "His finishing, left foot, right foot, he can jump like Air Jordán."
A concussion sustained in his second match -- a 0-0 draw with New York Red Bulls -- has been the only setback in an otherwise glittering start to his MLS career.
Uchenna Kanu
Having initially caught the eye as a left winger last term, Kanu impressed when given more of a central attacking brief for Racing Louisville FC, ending the campaign with five goals despite missing the best part of two months with a knee complaint.
It wasn't enough to help the 2019 expansion team reach the playoffs, but it's at least given Bev Yanez a blueprint as she looks to help Louisville impose themselves more consistently and outgun opponents.
The Abia-born forward has proved with Nigeria and Tigres UANL that she can be a consistent goalscorer, while Super Falcons fans who remember her equaliser against Australia at the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup know that she's a player for the big occasion.
Denis Bouanga
Certainly during his time in European football, Gabon's Bouanga was among Africa's most watchable, and arguably most underrated, players, with his sensational dribbling and awesome technique making him one of the most dazzling players in France.
Admittedly, he could be frustrating at times, losing possession and allowing attacking moves to collapse at his feet, and it's perhaps because of this that a move to a genuine European heavyweight never materialised.
He's certainly appreciated in MLS, where Los Angeles FC fans have been able to appreciate Bouanga's wizardry in wide areas, as well as his cutting edge and lethal right foot.
Having only once hit double figures in Ligue 1, he struck 20 goals in each of the last two seasons in the States, twice making the MLS Best XI, and was also part of the LAFC team that won the US Open Cup.
In a remodelled Black and Gold forward line, expect Bouanga to be as influential as ever this term.
Jeff Kassouf wonders if the top four NWSL teams are in danger of becoming uncatchable for the rest of the league.
Racheal Kundananji
Previously the most expensive women's player in history, Kundananji made headlines when she arrived in the States in February 2024, although it's fair to say that she hasn't yet had the impact that last season's debutants Chawinga and Banda achieved in NWSL last term.
Despite scoring on her debut for Bay FC, Kundananji didn't find goals easy to come by as opposition defenders -- perhaps as a consequence of her transfer fee -- ensured she received close attention.
A more subtle player than Banda, her Zambian teammate, the attacker ended the season in fine form, and if she can rediscover the consistency -- and confidence -- she enjoyed at Madrid CFF, could yet establish herself as the league's outstanding individual.
Asisat Oshoala
Against the backdrop of Chawinga's goals or the fanfare that accompanied the arrival of Zambian duo Kundananji or Banda, Nigeria star Osoala's first season in the United States was a relatively low-key affair.
Despite being arguably the greatest African player in the history of women's football, Oshoala's dethroning as CAF's Footballer of the Year by Banda was received with a collective shrug of the shoulders, with the Nigeria legend never truly in contention for the prize after winning it six times previously.
Despite starting the season with the NWSL 'Goal of the Week' for her debut strike for Bay FC, she didn't once make the division's Team of the Month, and, despite scoring, was unable to prevent Washington Spirit's come-from-behind victory.
At 30, she's far from finished -- she still netted seven times during the regular season -- but needs a big season if she's to reestablish herself as Africa's top star.
Jonathan Bamba
Another new signing in MLS, Bamba will hope to fare better than Chicago Fire's last Designated Player -- Xherdan Shaqiri, who largely failed to live up to his billing in the Windy City.
Gregg Berhalter identified the Ivory Coast international as a big asset for his new-look Fire side, and duly parted with $2million to sign the versatile attacker from Celta Vigo.
A French champion with LOSC Lille, and an AFCON winner with the Elephants last year, Bamba certainly comes with an admirable pedigree, while a pair of assists on his debut against Columbus Crew was double what Shaqiri managed in the entirety of last year.
The NWSL airs on ESPN's channels in Africa, starting on March 14 (DStv 218 and 219, Starsat 248).