As you are no doubt aware, the biennial Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) will start very soon.
The 2025 edition of the tournament starts on December 21, putting it on a collision course with the busiest period of the Premier League campaign.
The deadline for naming the final selections took place on December 11although Algeria And Senegal have postponed their announcements by two days.
In this article, we round up who is leaving with their respective countries – and who is missing out.
WHEN IS AFCON 2025?
AFCON will take place between Sunday December 21, 2025 And Sunday January 18, 2026.
That includes Gameweeks 17 to 22 in FPL:
If the group stage is abandoned, players can return as early as Gameweek 20.
But those who make it through the knockout rounds look set to miss up to five Gameweeks, even if they don’t make it to the last 16.
If you go all the way to the semi-finals, you have to sit out six Gameweeks, because there is also a play-off for third/fourth place.
WHEN DO PLAYERS HAVE TO REPORT TO THEIR COUNTRIES?
The mandatory release day for players is Monday December 15
The vast majority, possibly all, of the Premier League’s AFCON players will therefore still be available for selection in Gameweek 16 – and then leave.
We will hopefully get clarity on Friday about where the Manchester United and Bournemouth players stand. The two clubs face each other at Old Trafford on Monday evening.
AFCON 2025: PREMIER LEAGUE PLAYERS REGISTERED
Here you will find a club-by-club guide with information on which FPL assets have been named in their country’s selections.
Bold indicates players have been selected in their country’s final squad, while italics indicates their country has yet to reveal their AFCON squad, but they are expected to be called up. As mentioned in the introduction, only Algeria and Senegal fall into the latter category.
| ARSENAL | |
| ASTON VILLA | |
| BOURNEMOUTH | |
| BRENTFORD | Dango Ouattara (Burkina Faso), Frank Onyeka (Nigeria) |
| BRIGHTON | Carlos Baleba (Cameroon) |
| BURNLEY | Axol Tanzebe (D Congo), Lyle Foster (South Africa), Hannibal Mejbri (Tunisia) |
| CHELSEA | |
| C PALACE | Ismaila Sarr (Senegal) |
| EVERTON | Idrissa Gueee (Senegal), Iliman Lawye (Senegal) |
| FULHAM | Calvin Bassey (Nigeria), Alex Iwobi (Nigeria), Samuel Chukwueze (Nigeria) |
| LEEDS | |
| LIVERPOOL | Mohamed Salah (Egypt) |
| MAN CITY | Omar Marmoush (Egypt), Rayan Ait-Nouri (Algeria) |
| MAN UTD | Bryan Mbeumo (Cameroon), Amad Diallo (Ivory Coast), Noussair Mazraoui (Morocco) |
| NEWCASTLE | |
| NOTTM FOREST | Willy Boly (Ivory Coast), Ibrahim Sangare (Ivory Coast) |
| WITHOUTLAND | 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-Biska (DR Congo), El Hadji Malick Diouf (Senegal) |
| WOLVES | Emmanuel Agbadou (Ivory Coast), Tawanda Chirewa (Zimbabwe) |
DO NOT CALL
A number of eligible players did not receive a call-up.
Injuries of influence Cheick Doucoure (£4.9 million), Chadi Riad (£4.0 million), Marshall Munet (£5.4 million), Meals of life (£4.7 million) and Taiwo Awoniyi (£5.2 million) explain their absence.
And while Yoane warned (£7.3m) has now returned, months on the sidelines having effectively cost him his place in the DR Congo squad.
A handful of others were simply not selected – and it is no surprise that it is a group of players who have struggled to make an impact at their respective clubs.
They are Jackson Tchatchoua (£4.5 million), Evann Guessand (£6.2 million), Simon Adingra (£5.0 million), Amine Adli (£5.4 million), Adam Aznou (£4.3 million), Christantus Uche (£5.5 million) and Three Arokadares (£5.4 million).
COUNTRIES DID NOT QUALIFY
Finally, you may have noticed that a number of high-profile African players are not mentioned in this article.
That’s because their countries didn’t even make it to AFCON 2025.
Gambia, Guinea-Bissau and, most surprisingly of all, Ghana were among the countries that failed to progress during qualifying.
Yankuba Minteh (£6.2 million), Beto (£5.1 million), Antoine Semenyo (£7.6 million) and Mohammed Jerusalem (£6.5m) may then remain with their clubs.
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