Retired footballer George Weah has won the elections in Liberia to become that country’s 25th president.

The senator of Montserrado County – once named Fifa World Player and winner of the much coveted Ballon d’or – defeated his 73-year-old opponent Vice President Joseph Boakai in a landslide victory in results announced in Liberia on Wednesday morning.

“I am deeply grateful to my family, my friends, and my loyal supporters who contributed to our campaign during this extremely long election season,” Weah said on Twitter before the results were announced.

Weah is set to replace Africa’s first female head of state, economist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and see the West African nation, founded by freed American slaves, hand over power from one democratically elected government to another.