Ben Fleming
Published December 3, 2025 12:00pm
Updated December 3, 2025 12:00pm
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Mohamed Salah is set to play for Egypt at the AFCON (Picture: Getty)
The 2025 Africa Cup of Nations is fast approaching, with the 24-team tournament set to kick off in Morocco later this month.
Holders Ivory Coast will look to defend the title they won in extraordinary fashion almost two years ago, having sacked their manager midway through the tournament.
The tournament is set to run through until the middle of January, meaning that several Premier League clubs will be without key players in the often hectic festive and New Year period.
Six rounds of Premier League fixtures are due to take place between the tournament dates, as well as the FA Cup third round and Carabao Cup semi-final first legs, meaning that there is a total of eight matches some players may miss.
Around 50 African players currently play in the Premier League, but not everyone is involved due to selection, injury or their nation not qualifying for the finals.
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So how could each club be affected? Let’s find out…
How Premier League clubs could be affected by AFCON
Sunderland’s Simon Adringra (left) won the AFCON with Ivory Coast in 2024 (Picture: Getty)
Arsenal
Mikel Arteta’s side have no African players currently in their first-team squad.
Aston Villa
Forward Evann Guessand, who signed over the summer from Nice, is expected to be named in the Ivory Coast squad.
Bournemouth
Amine Adli is likely to be in the Morocco squad, but Antonie Semenyo will remain with Andoni Iraola’s squad after Ghana failed to qualify for the finals.
Brentford
Club-record signing Dango Outtara and midfielder Frank Onyeka could be called up to the Burkina Faso and Nigeria squads, respectively.
Brighton
Carlos Baleba is in the Cameroon squad (Picture: Getty)
Cameroon have called up Carlos Baleba to their squad. The midfielder has been a virtual ever-present in Fabian Hurzelers’s side this season.
But Yankuba Minteh‘s Gambia did not qualify.
Chelsea
The Blues have no African players currently in their first-team squad.
Crystal Palace
Palace could be one of the most affected teams, with Cheick Doucoure (Mali), Chadi Riad (Morocco), Christantus Uche (Nigeria) and Ismaila Sarr (Senegal) all potentially set to feature.
Sarr has emerged as a late doubt, however, after picking up a knock against Manchester United last weekend.
Everton
Iliman Ndiaye and Idrissa Gueye are expected to be called up to Sengal’s squad, while summer signing Adam Aznou could feature for Morocco.
Fulham
Alex Iwobi, Calvin Bassey and Samuel Chukwueze have all been named in Nigeria’s provisional squad for AFCON.
Leeds United
Daniel Farke’s squad contains no African players.
Liverpool
Mohamed Salah will be a big miss for Arne Slot’s side when he joins up with Egypt for the tournament.
Manchester City
Pep Guardiola’s side are expected to be without Omar Marmoush, who will join Salah in the Egyptian side.
Manchester United
Amad Diallo will be missing for Manchester United (Picture: Getty)
United are set to lose two key wide players – Bryan Mbeumo (Cameroon) and Amad Diallo (Ivory Coast) – along with defender Noussair Mazraoui (Morocco)
Newcastle
Newcastle will have no players at AFCON after Yoanne Wissa was not named in DR Congo’s squad due to his ongoing injury problems.
Nottingham Forest
Ola Aina and Taiwo Awoniyi have also been named in Nigeria’s provisional squad for the tournament.
Elsewhere, Ivory Coast are expected to call on the services of Willy Boly and Ibrahim Sangare.
Sunderland
Sunderland will be the most affected by his year’s AFCON, with as many as seven players facing a call-up by their respective nations.
They include: Arthur Masuaku and Noah Sadiki (both DR Congo), Chemsdine Talbi (Morocco), Habib Diarra (Senegal), Reinildo (Mozambique), Simon Adingra (Ivory Coast) and Bertrand Traore (Burkina Faso).
Tottenham
Central midfielders Pape Matr Sarr (Senegal) and Yves Bissouma (Mali). Thomas Frank will still have Mohammed Kudus, though, after Ghana failed to qualify.
West Ham
Aaron Wan-Bissaka has been called up by DR Congo, while fellow full-back El Hadji Malick Diouf is expcted to play for Senegal.
Wolves
Jackson Tchatchoua was not named in the Cameroon squad, but bottom-of-the-table Wolves could still be without four players.
Zimbabwe duo Marshall Munetsi and Tawanda Chirewa, Ivory Coast defender Emmanuel Agbadou, and Nigeria striker Tolu Arokodare might all feature in the tournament.
When does AFCON start? Full schedule
Bryan Mbeumo is expected to be called up by Cameroon (Picture: Getty)
AFCON is set to start on December 21, with the final held in the New Year on January 18. The full schedule is as follows:
Group Stages: December 21 to December 31
Last 16: January 3 to January 6
Quarter-finals: January 9 and January 10
Semi-finals: January 14
Third-place play-off: January 17
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Final: January 18
AFCON groups
Group A: Comoros, Mali, Morocco, Zambia.
Group B: Angola, Egypt, South Africa, Zimbabwe.
Group C: Nigeria, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda.
Group D: Benin, Botswana, DR Congo, Senegal.
Group E: Algeria, Burkina Faso, Equatorial Guinea, Sudan.
Group F: Cameroon, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Mozambique.
When do players need to be released by their clubs?
Premier League clubs have to release their players for AFCON duty by December 15.
How to watch AFCON on TV
Viewers in the UK can keep up with all the AFCON action via Sky Sports and the BBC.
Sky Sports will show all 52 matches and BBC will have coverage of 10 matches including the Africa Cup of Nations final.
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