Which Premier League players could feature at Afcon?
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A total of 47 Premier League players could miss part of this season due to the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon).
Liverpool's Mohamed Salah and new Manchester United signing Bryan Mbuemo are among the biggest Premier League names who could feature at the competition.
Afcon, held biennially, has historically posed selection challenges for clubs during winter fixtures, with star players temporarily unavailable.
The next edition of the tournament, taking place in Morocco, lasts for four weeks from Sunday, 21 December, 2025 to Sunday, 18 January, 2026.
Fifty-one players from African countries currently play in the Premier League, but with Ghana, Gambia and Guinea-Bissau all failing to qualify. Tottenham's Mohammed Kudus and Bournemouth's Antoine Semenyo are among four African players in the Premier League who will not feature at the competition.
Six rounds of Premier League fixtures are due to take place between those dates, as well as the third round of the FA Cup and the semi-final first legs of the EFL Cup, meaning that there is a total of eight matches some players may miss.
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Which players could be selected?
In the 2024-25 Premier League season, African trio Mohamed Salah, Bryan Mbuemo (pictured) and Yoane Wissa all featured in the competition's top nine goal scorers
As well as Salah and Mbuemo, several other important players could be called up by their countries for this year's Afcon.
Egypt could also call up Salah's international team-mate Omar Marmoush of Manchester City, while Newcastle's Yoane Wissa could feature for the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Everton midfielders Iliman Ndiaye and Idrissa Gueye are both Senegal internationals, as is new West Ham left-back El Hadji Malick Diouf.
Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana may be called up by Cameroon, while Tottenham midfielders Yves Bissouma and Pape Matar Sarr could play for Mali and Senegal, respectively.
Which clubs are affected the most?
Sunderland have nine players from African nations in their squad who could all receive call-ups to Afcon.
Wolves are among the leaders in players who could head to Afcon with five players eligible.
Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace, who will also have European football to also negotiate this season, each have four players who may feature at Afcon.
Brighton are the only club to have multiple African players that cannot feature at Afcon due to the players' nations not qualifying.
Arsenal, Chelsea and Leeds currently do not have an African player in their squads.
Which nations are best represented?
Sunderland's summer signing Simon Adingra was named Best Young Player at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (played in 2024)
Of the 24 nations at Afcon, 15 have at least one player from their country at a Premier League club.
Nigeria is currently the most popular African nation in the Premier League, with nine players in English top-flight clubs.
Ivory Coast and Senegal are the next most popular with six players each currently at Premier League clubs.
There are five Premier League players from the Democratic Republic of Congo and four from Cameroon.
Algeria, Tunisia, South Africa, Angola and Mozambique all have one each.
Full list of Premier League players who could feature at Afcon
Bournemouth: Amine Adli (Morocco)
Arsenal: No African players in current first-team squad
Aston Villa: Evann Guessand (Ivory Coast)
Brentford: Dango Ouattara (Burkina Faso), Frank Onyeka (Nigeria),
Brighton: Carlos Baleba (Cameroon)
Burnley: Axel Tuanzebe (Democratic Republic of Congo), Manuel Benson (Angola), Lyle Foster (South Africa), Hannibal Mejbri (Tunisia)
Chelsea: No African players in current first-team squad
Crystal Palace: Ismaila Sarr (Senegal), Christantus Uche (Nigeria), Cheick Doucoure (Mali), Chadi Riad (Morocco)
Everton: Iliman Ndiaye (Senegal), Idrissa Gueye (Senegal)
Fulham: Calvin Bassey (Nigeria), Alex Iwobi (Nigeria), Samuel Chukwueze (Nigeria)
Leeds: No African players in current first-team squad
Liverpool: Mohamed Salah (Egypt)
Manchester City: Omar Marmoush (Egypt), Rayan Ait-Nouri (Algeria)
Manchester United: Noussair Mazraoui (Morocco), Amad Diallo (Ivory Coast), Andre Onana (Cameroon), Bryan Mbuemo (Cameroon)
Newcastle: Yoane Wissa (Democratic Republic of Congo)
Nottingham Forest: Ibrahim Sangare (Ivory Coast), Taiwo Awoniyi (Nigeria), Willy Boly (Ivory Coast), Ola Aina (Nigeria)
Sunderland: Chemsdine Talbi (Morocco), Blondy Nna Noukeu (Cameroon), Reinildo Mandava (Mozambique), Habib Diarra (Senegal), Simon Adingra (Ivory Coast), Arthur Masuaku (Democratic Republic of Congo), Noah Sadiki (Democratic Republic of Congo), Ahmed Abdullahi (Nigeria), Bertrand Traore (Burkina Faso)
Tottenham: Yves Bissouma (Mali), Pape Matar Sarr (Senegal)
West Ham: El Hadji Malick Diouf (Senegal), Aaron Wan-Bissaka (Democratic Republic of Congo)
Wolves: Marshall Munetsi (Zimbabwe), Emmanuel Agbadou (Ivory Coast), Tolu Arokodare (Nigeria), Tawanda Chirewa (Zimbabwe), Jackson Tchatchoua (Cameroon)
African players whose countries have not qualified for Afcon: Antoine Semenyo (Ghana and Bournemouth), Yankuba Minteh (Gambia and Brighton), Beto (Guinea-Bissau and Everton), Mohammed Kudus (Ghana and Tottenham)
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