Image Credit: @CAF_Online Twitter
On the 21st December 2025 until 18th January 2026, Morocco will be playing host to the 35th edition of the Africa Cup of Nation and with that major competition comes the hardship for teams across Europe as this esteemed tournament takes place in the middle of the football calendar which means quite a few clubs will be losing key players heading into the new year. FIFA declared that the deadline for players to travel to their respective national teams in preparation of the biggest tournament in Africa was December 15, less than a week before the tournament begins which was not the norm in previous years. In the past countries participating in the competition were given a minimum of 2 weeks to prepare for the competition by allowing countries to participate in friendlies in the lead up to the tournament however this year has not been the case.
In the most exciting Premier League season yet, quite a lot of teams will be affected by the absence of their key players heading into the festive season as well as going into the new year. Here is a list of the teams and their players who have been called up for AFCON:
Aston Villa
- Evann Guessand - Ivory Coast
Brentford
- Dango Ouattara - Burkina Faso
- Frank Onyeka - Nigeria
Brighton & Hove Albion
- Carlos Baleba - Cameroon
Burnley
- Axel Tuanzebe - DR Congo
- Lyle Foster - South Africa
- Hannibal Mejbri - Tunisia
Crytal Palace
- Ismaila Sarr - Senegal
Everton
- Iliman Ndiaye - Senegal
- Idrissa Gana Gueye - Senegal
Fulham
- Alex Iwobi - Nigeria
- Samuel Chukwueze - Nigeria
- Calvin Bassey - Nigeria
Liverpool
- Mohamed Salah - Egypt
Manchester City
- Omar Marmoush - Egypt
- Rayan Aït-Nouri - Algeria
Manchester United
- Bryan Mbeumo - Cameroon
- Amad - Ivory Coast
- Noussair Mazraoui - Morocco
Nottingham Forest
- Willy Boly - Ivory Coast
- Ibrahim Sangare – Ivory Coast
Sunderland
- Noah Sadiki - DR Congo
- Arthur Masuaku - DR Congo
- Reinildo Mandava - Mozambique
- Bertrand Traore - Burkina Faso
- Chemsdine Talbi - Morocco
- Habib Diarra - Senegal
Tottenham Hotspur
- Yves Bissouma - Mali
- Pape Matar Sarr - Senegal
West Ham United
- Aaron Wan-Bissaka - DR Congo
- Malick Diouf - Senegal
Wolverhampton Wanderers
- Tawanda Chirewa - Zimbabwe
- Emmanuel Agbadou - Ivory Coast
Teams like Arsenal, Chelsea and Leeds United do not have any African players in their ranks at risk of going to AFCON this season while there are teams in the league this season who do have African players in their squads however for one reason or another they were not selected to represent their teams in the competition. Here is a list of teams with players who will not be at AFCON and the list also includes teams that already have players called up to represent their countries:
AFC Bournemouth
- Antoine Semenyo – Ghana
- Amine Adli – Morocco
Crystal Palace
- Cheick Doucoure - Mali
- Chadi Riad - Morocco
- Christantus Uche - Nigeria
Newcastle United
- Yoane Wissa - Dr Congo
Nottingham Forest
- Ola Aina - Nigeria
- Taiwo Awoniyi - Nigeria
Wolverhampton Wanderers
- Jackson Tchatchoua - Cameroon
- Tolu Arokodare - Nigeria
- Marshall Munetsi - Zimbabwe
