AFCON 2025: Mohamed Salah says goodbye, Ruben Amorim 'in the dark' over Manchester United stars - which Premier League sides are most affected?
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By Ben Grounds
Published 14/12/2025 at 13:46 GMT
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A total of 32 Premier League players have been confirmed among the 24 nations set to compete in the 35th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco, which runs from Sunday 21 December 2025 and Sunday 18 January 2026. Those who reach the final in Rabat will have missed six rounds of Premier League fixtures but there have been some surprise omissions, so which clubs will be the most affected?
Amorim unsure if AFCON-bound trio will face Bournemouth
Video credit: SNTV
With the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations set to start next week, the full lists of squads competing have been confirmed, and so we now know precisely which players from the Premier League will be missing for the forthcoming festive period.
Mohamed Salah was pictured waving at the Anfield crowd after putting a difficult week behind him to cool speculation over his Liverpool future before joining up with the Egypt squad.
Bryan Mbeumo is set to join Cameroon while Noussair Mazraoui (Morocco) and Amad Diallo (Ivory Coast) will also be heading to Morocco soon, with Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim still "in the dark" over whether the trio will be available to face Bournemouth on Monday night.
The group stage of the tournament will run until New Year's Eve, meaning some players could be back in time to feature in Matchweek 20 on January 4 if they have been eliminated.
Many of the nations to have qualified for the 35th edition of the biennial tournament do not contain any Premier League representatives: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Comoros, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.
Perhaps the most high-profile player who will not be heading to Morocco is Newcastle United's Yoane Wissa, who has opted to build up his fitness following months on the sidelines, rather than take a place in the DR Congo squad.
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'No issue to resolve' - Slot on Salah's future
Video credit: SNTV
Countries have had until Monday, December 15 to confirm their squads for the tournament, which runs from Sunday 21 December 2025 and Sunday 18 January 2026. TNT Sports runs through which players could miss up to six Premier League games.
| Premier League club | Player (Nation) |
| Arsenal | None |
| Aston Villa | Evann Guessand (Ivory Coast, standby) |
| Bournemouth | None |
| Brentford | Dango Ouattara (Burkina Faso), Frank Onyeka (Nigeria) |
| Brighton | Carlos Baleba (Cameroon) |
| Burnley | Axel Tuanzebe (DR Congo), Lyle Foster (South Africa), Hannibal Mejbri (Tunisia) |
| Chelsea | None |
| Crystal Palace | Ismaila Sarr (Senegal) |
| Everton | Idrissa Gueye (Senegal), Iliman Ndiaye (Senegal) |
| Fulham | Calvin Bassey (Nigeria), Alex Iwobi (Nigeria), Samuel Chukwueze (Nigeria) |
| Leeds | None |
| Liverpool | Mohamed Salah (Egypt) |
| Manchester City | Omar Marmoush (Egypt), Rayan Ait-Nouri (Algeria) |
| Manchester United | Bryan Mbeumo (Cameroon), Amad Diallo (Ivory Coast), Noussair Mazraoui (Morocco) |
| Newcastle | None |
| Nottingham Forest | Willy Boly (Ivory Coast), Ibrahim Sangare (Ivory Coast) |
| Sunderland | Bertrand Traore (Burkina Faso), Noah Sadiki (DR Congo), Arthur Masuaku (DR Congo), Chemsdine Talbi (Morocco), Reinildo Mandava (Mozambique), Habib Diarra (Senegal) |
| Tottenham | Yves Bissouma (Mali), Pape Matar Sarr (Senegal) |
| West Ham | Aaron Wan-Bissaka (DR Congo), El Hadji Malick Diouf (Senegal) |
| Wolves | Emmanuel Agbadou (Ivory Coast), Tawanda Chirewa (Zimbabwe) |
Have there been any shock omissions?
Of the players who were expected to head to the tournament, there was a surprise as Sunderland winger Simon Adingra was left out of the Ivory Coast squad, with head coach Emerse Fae instead recalling Wilfried Zaha after his impressive MLS spell at Charlotte on loan from Galatasaray.
Wolves midfielder Marshall Munetsi is the vice captain of Zimbabwe, but he has been left out of Marian Marinica's squad due to injury - a decision that did not go down well with the player.
"My club didn’t tell me I couldn’t play in the group stage; they just said the first match would be risky. It’s nothing serious, and I’m not in any pain; it's just the club trying to be cautious," he told The Herald.
"I don’t think this is about football anymore… The national team doesn’t want me."
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Marshall Munetsi (right) is staying behind with Wolves
Image credit: Getty Images
Crystal Palace were expected to lose a strong contingent, but it remains to be seen if Ismaila Sarr can prove his fitness to represent Senegal after the forward suffered ankle ligament damage against Manchester United on November 30.
Meanwhile, Morocco defender Chadi Riad and Mali midfielder Cheick Doucoure have both been sidelined since January due to significant knee injuries, leaving them without competitive action for nearly a year.
Meanwhile, forward Christantus Uche, a Nigerian international who recently scored against Shelbourne in the UEFA Conference League, was overlooked for selection.
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Taiwo Awoniyi (left) is among two of Nottingham Forest's Nigerian contingent staying behind
Image credit: Getty Images
Nottingham Forest is another Premier League club whose numbers are depleted owing to injuries, with Nigeria duo Ola Aina and Taiwo Awoniyi kept out of Eric Chelle's 28-man squad.
Wolves looked to have snatched a late draw at Arsenal courtesy of Tolu Arokodare's 90th-minute header, only for the Premier League's bottom side to still lose in stoppage time.
Arokodare will, however, be available throughout the festive period after he was also overlooked for Nigeria duty following just three goals since his ÂŁ24m summer move from Genk.
Which countries failed to qualify?
Jackson Tchatchoua (Wolves/Cameroon), Adam Aznou (Everton/Morocco), and Amine Adli (Bournemouth/Morocco) were not selected due to a lack of form, while Bournemouth will still be able to call upon Antoine Semenyo after Ghana failed to qualify for the finals.
That also means Tottenham's Mohammed Kudus stays behind, while Gambia's absence is good news for Brighton fans as Yankuba Minteh will also be available over the coming weeks.
While Everton will lose Ndiaye and Gueye, they will still be able to select striker Beto after Guinea-Bissau also failed to qualify.
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