The three-time African Footballer of the Year starred at two World Cup finals, with his greatest impact coming in 1990, where four goals helped Cameroon progress to the quarter-final.
This was the best showing by an African nation until Senegal and Ghana matched the feat in 2002 and 2010 respectively.
At 42, in 1994, Milla became the oldest player to ever feature at the showpiece, although two players have since supplanted the icon – Colombia’s then 43-year-old Faryd Mondragon in 2014 and Egypt’s Essam El Hadary who played in Russia 2018 at 45.
Another goal at the finals in ’94 saw him break his own record, set four years earlier, of being the oldest scorer at the showpiece.
His tally of five World Cup strikes was Africa’s highest return for two decades until Asamoah Gyan matched and overtook the legendary Cameroonian in 2014.
