Didier Yves Drogba Tébily is an Ivorian former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is the all-time top scorer and former captain of the Ivory Coast national team. He is best known for his career at Chelsea, for whom he has scored more goals than any other foreign player and is currently the club's fourth highest goal scorer of all time. Drogba was named Chelsea's greatest ever player in a poll of 20,000 fans conducted by Chelsea FC Magazine in 2012, and he was also named in the Chelsea team of the 2010–2020 decade by Chelsea's fans in 2020. Regarded as one of the greatest African players of all time, he was noted for his physical strength, speed, ability in the air, powerful and accurate strikes, and ball retention. Drogba was named African Footballer of the Year twice, winning the award in 2006 and 2009.

In the sport of association football, a forward is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on being able to create space for attack. Their advanced position and limited defensive responsibilities mean forwards normally score more goals on behalf of their team than other players.