There were still 23 Premier League players present at the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) ahead of the quarter-finals, but now only 14 remain after the last eight matches were played on Friday and Saturday.
In the last of our regular roundups, we’ll update you on how many players we can expect soon and who is still in Morocco.
GAMEWEEK/AFCON ROUND OVERVIEW
Before we begin, a reminder of how the AFCON rounds match up with Fantasy Premier League (FPL) Gameweeks:
SHOULD BE BACK IN GAMEWEEK 22
Three of the 33 Premier League players who left for AFCON are already back in Premier League action following their country’s departure.
Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Thank you Chirewa (£4.3m) was involved in Gameweek 20, with Burnley duo Hannibal Mejbri (£4.7 million) and Lyle Foster (£4.9m) reappears in Gameweek 21.
Here’s who we can expect to see back in the English top flight in Gameweek 22:
| Nation | Premier League players | Round of elimination | Date of elimination |
| Ivory Coast | Guessand (AVL), Amad (MUN), Boly (NFO), Sangare (NFO), Acadula (WOL) | Quarterfinals | January 10 |
| Algeria | Ait Nouri (MCI) | Quarterfinals | January 10 |
| Mali | Bissouma (TOT) | Quarterfinals | January 9 |
| Cameroon | Recent (BHA), Mbemmo (MUN) | Quarterfinals | January 9 |
| Burkina Faso | Ouattara (BRE), Traore (ZON) | Last 16 | January 6 |
| DR Congo | Tuanze (BUR), Sadiki (SUR), Masuaku (SUN), Wan-Bissaka (WHU) | Last 16 | January 6 |
| Mozambique | Reinildo (SUN) | Last 16 | January 5 |
Noah Sadiki (£4.9 million) and Axel Tuanzebe (£3.9m) were indeed back in their clubs’ matchday squads in the FA Cup on Saturday.
Bryan Mbeumo (£8.1 million), Rayan Ait-Nouri (£5.7 million). Dango Ouattara (£5.8m) are among the most notable names we can expect to see in Gameweek 22.
The pre-match press conferences on Thursday and Friday later this week will be worth listening to just to make sure that each of the aforementioned players have not been given an extended post-tournament break by their managers.
But it’s not as if this AFCON contingent has logged more playing time than their teammates at home. Mbeumo has played 405 minutes since leaving for Morocco Matheus Cunha (£8.2m) has logged 434 Premier League minutes for Manchester United.
EXPECTED BACK IN GAMEWEEK 23
| Nation | Premier League players |
| Egypt | Salah (LIV), Marmoush (MCI) |
| Morocco | Mazraoui (MUN), Talbi (SUN) |
| Nigeria | Onyeka (BRE), Bassey (VOL), Iwobi (VOL), Chukwueze (VOL) |
| Senegal | I Sar (CRY), Gueye (EVE), Ndiaye (EVE), Diarra (ZON), Palrr (TOT), Diouf (WHU) |
The above four countries and the players mentioned all reached the semi-finals. In FPL terms: that means no return until Gameweek 23.
Even if the players’ countries are eliminated in the last four, there will be a play-off for third/fourth place on the weekend of Gameweek 22.
And if you think the eliminated semi-finalists would have some of their players return to Britain early, rather than staying for the bronze medal match, that hasn’t happened in previous tournaments. Yoane warned (£7.3 million) in 2023, Bertrand Traore (£5.5m) in 2021 and Alex Iwobi (£6.3m) in 2019 are examples of Premier League players taking part in the third/fourth play-off.
So the likes of Ismail Sarr (£6.4 million), Indian education (£6.2 million), Mohammed Salah (£14.0 million) and Omar Marmoush (£8.3m) will almost certainly not be seen until Gameweek 23.
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