Didier Yves Drogba Tébily (French pronunciation: [didje iv dʁɔɡba tebili]; born 11 March 1978) is an Ivorian former professional footballer who played as a striker.

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.

[28] 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.

[32] At the end of the season, Drogba was a transfer priority of newly endorsed Chelsea coach José Mourinho,[33] and was bought as the club's then record signing of £24 million.

[28] His shirt from his only season at Marseille is also framed in the basilica of the city, Notre-Dame de la Garde, which he presented to the church before the 2004 UEFA Cup Final.

[69] Drogba suffered a string of injuries early on in the 2008–09 season and struggled to regain fitness, missing games from August to November due to knee problems.

[70][71] He scored his first goal of the season in mid-November but there was little reason to celebrate: he incurred disciplinary action and a three-match ban for throwing a coin back into the stands and Chelsea suffered a League Cup defeat against Burnley.

[75] Having missed many games through injury and suspension, Drogba had lost his first team place and manager Scolari favoured playing Nicolas Anelka as a lone striker rather than pairing the two.

[76] Upon the temporary appointment of Guus Hiddink in early February following the sacking of Scolari, Drogba enjoyed a rejuvenation of sorts, returning to his goal-scoring form with four goals in five games after the new manager took over.

[77][78] His revival in form saw him net twice against Bolton Wanderers, and four times in four Champions League matches, one in each leg of the last sixteen and quarter-final of the competition against Juventus and Liverpool respectively, with these goals ensuring Chelsea's passage into the semi-finals.

[84] Drogba began the 2009–10 season in fine form for Chelsea, netting a penalty during a shoot-out win in the Community Shield over Manchester United, before scoring twice in a 2–1 victory over Hull City.

Later on in the game though Ashley Cole was tripped in the box when Chelsea were already 5–0 up, and this time Lampard allowed Drogba to take the penalty, which he scored to go two goals clear of Rooney.

[95] However, he started the Premier League season in fine form, continuing from where he left off on the last day of the previous campaign as he scored a hat-trick against West Bromwich Albion in a 6–0 victory.

[104] On 31 December 2011, Drogba scored his 150th goal for Chelsea against Aston Villa, putting him level with Peter Osgood and Roy Bentley in terms of the club's top scorers of all time.

Drogba scored his seventh goal at Wembley Stadium against London rivals Tottenham Hotspur on 15 April, blasting the ball past former teammate Carlo Cudicini as Chelsea became 5–1 winners and secured a place in the FA Cup Final against Liverpool.

[131] In Galatasary's derby match against Istanbul rivals Fenerbahçe on 12 May, Drogba and his Ivorian teammate Emmanuel Eboue were subjects of racist chants from opposing fans in the team's 2–1 loss, but no fine or bans were handed down to the supporters or the club.

[137] Drogba made his Premier League return for Chelsea in a 3–1 win away to Burnley, replacing winger Eden Hazard in the 84th minute at Turf Moor on 18 August 2014.

[140] Five days later, with Chelsea's attack limited by injuries to Diego Costa and Loïc Rémy, Drogba started against Manchester United at Old Trafford, making his 350th appearance for the club.

[150] On 29 October, Drogba scored Montreal's third goal in a 3–0 home win over Toronto in the knock-out round of the Playoffs, to advance to the Eastern Conference Semi-finals for the first time in the club's history;[151] they were eliminated by Columbus Crew SC.

[158] On 3 March, club technical director Adam Braz announced that Drogba would not play matches on artificial turf to begin the season due to possible implications on his knee.

[160] On 14 October, following his exclusion from the starting lineup of a match against Toronto FC by manager Mauro Biello, Drogba refused to play for the team that night, removing his name from the squad.

[162][163] Drogba did not experience the same level of success in his second regular season compared to the first, but still scored 10 goals while appearing in only 22 games, as Montreal reached the Conference Final of the 2016 Playoffs.

[172] Following the victory over Sudan that clinched World Cup qualification he also played a pivotal role in helping to end the Ivorian civil war by making an impassioned speech to the camera which resulted in a cease fire.

[20] In February 2006, Drogba captained the Ivory Coast to their second Africa Cup of Nations final, scoring the only goal in their semi-final match with Nigeria and putting away the deciding spot-kick in their record-tying 12–11 penalty shootout quarter-final win over Cameroon.

"[201] Carl Anka of the BBC writes, "Drogba's robust playing style was so effective that he spearheaded the movement of the Premier League from the 4–4–2 era to a time where the 4–3–2–1 formation was king.

[197][204] Drogba's robust playing style has made him the toughest striker to face for many defenders, including Gerard Piqué,[208] Carles Puyol,[209] Chris Smalling,[210] Nemanja Vidić,[211] and Laurent Koscielny.

[225] Drogba's charity work continued when, in late 2009, he announced he would be donating the £3 million signing on fee for his endorsement of Pepsi for the construction of a hospital in his hometown of Abidjan.

"[227] In November 2014, Drogba appeared in FIFA's "11 against Ebola" campaign with a selection of top football players from around the world, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar, Gareth Bale and Xavi.

[228] Under the slogan "Together, we can beat Ebola", FIFA's campaign was done in conjunction with the Confederation of African Football and health experts, with the players holding up eleven messages to raise awareness of the disease and ways to combat it.

[235] On 29 November 2021, the duo co-hosted the next ceremony in 2021 which saw Lionel Messi receive the men's award for a record seventh time whilst Alexia Putellas won the Ballon d'Or Féminin.