Premier League AFCON absentees: A full list of players who will be missing

The final squads for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) have been submitted, with the tournament set to begin on January 13. The action will continue until the final on…

By Arsh Das

January 5, 2024

2 min read

Comments

The final squads for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) have been submitted, with the tournament set to begin on January 13. The action will continue until the final on February 11, and players from the African national teams can be expected back in the following week.

But during this time, the Premier League will continue its course and several high profile players will be missing. Here, we’ve compiled a thorough list of the players missing from every Premier League club due to national team duty in the coming month.

Premier League players who will play in AFCON: Full list

FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football – International Friendly – Egypt v Niger – Alexandria Stadium, Alexandria, Egypt – September 23, 2022 Egypt’s Mohamed Salah REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

Group A

Ivory Coast: Serge Aurier (Nottingham Forest), Willy Boly (Nottingham Forest), Ibrahim Sangare (Nottingham Forest), Simon Adingra (Brighton)
Nigeria: Ola Aina (Nottingham Forest), Calvin Bassey (Fulham), Alex Iwobi (Fulham), Frank Onyeka (Brentford)

Group B

Egypt: Mohamed Elneny (Arsenal), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
Ghana: Jordan Ayew (Crystal Palace), Mohammed Kudus (West Ham), Antoine Semenyo (Bournemouth)

Group C

Senegal: Fode Ballo-Toure (Fulham), Moussa Niakhate (Nottingham Forest), Idrissa Gueye (Everton), Chekihou Kouyate (Nottingham Forest), Pape Matar Sarr (Tottenham), Nicolas Jackson (Chelsea)
Cameroon: Andre Onana (Manchester United)

Group D

Algeria: Rayan Ait-Nouri (Wolves), Yasser Larouci (Sheffield United)
Burkina Faso: Issa Kabore (Luton Town), Bertrand Traore (Aston Villa), Dango Ouattara (Bournemouth)

Group E

Tunisia: Anis Ben Slimane (Sheffield United)
Mali: Squad to be confirmed, but Yves Bissouma (Tottenham) expected to be in it

Group F

Morocco: Nayef Aguerd (West Ham), Sofyan Amrabat (Manchester United)
DR Congo: Yoane Wissa (Brentford)

Mohamed Salah is no doubt the most notable absentee because of AFCON, but Manchester United’s number 1 goalkeeper Andre Onana will also be a huge loss. On the other hand, Chelsea forward Nicolas Jackson will also be missing after being called up by Senegal.

West Ham will be without Nayef Aguerd and Mohammed Kudus, both of whom are key players. And similarly, Brentford will miss Yoane Wissa as he plays for DR Congo, but will welcome Ivan Toney back after his lengthy ban.