Newcastle United fans have made public the decision on Yoane Wissa for the African Cup of Nations, whether he will participate in the tournament, as DR Congo has named their squad.
It’s fair to say that many Newcastle supporters were concerned that just when he could be playing, the forward would be sent off to play for his country for a significant part of the season.
Now DR Congo has named their squad for the AFCON and Yoane Wissa is NOT going to the tournament.
Had they included the Newcastle United striker, it would have been extremely difficult to take into account that Wissa suffered the injury for his country after signing for Newcastle BUT before he could make his club debut.
Keith Downie from Air sports says he has been told it is “complete focus on Newcastle as a priority” from Yoane Wissa.
Great to hear.
Although Yoane Wissa is not in the DR Congo squad, two Sunderland players are present. They will certainly be the hardest-hit side of any Premier League squad, with numerous players (see below) seemingly heading for the African Cup of Nations.
🇨🇩 DR Congo has announced their final 26-man squad for AFCON 2025!
Notably, Fiston Mayele is the only African-based player included in the team.
🗓️Group Stage Performance:
• Benin – December 23
• Senegal – December 27
• Botswana – December 30The leopards are ready to… pic.twitter.com/aJpTdIX3bg
— Micky Jnr (@MickyJnr__) December 1, 2025
AFCON (African Cup of Nations) is fast approaching and it will be interesting to see what impact this will have on the various Premier League clubs.
The tournament will take place in Morocco and last four weeks, from Sunday, December 21, 2025 to Sunday, January 18, 2026.
A total of fifty players from African countries are currently playing in the Premier League.
However, ‘only’ 46 could have been at AFCON and missed this mid-season with their Premier League clubs, with Ghana, Gambia and Guinea-Bissau all failing to qualify. Tottenham’s Mohammed Kudus and Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo are four African players at Premier League clubs who will not participate in the competition.
This upcoming AFCON tournament will see six rounds of Premier League matches take place between these dates (December 21, 2025 to January 18, 2026), as well as the FA Cup third round and the Carabao Cup semi-final, meaning some players could miss a total of eight games during the actual AFCON tournament.
This obviously does not take into account whether some countries expect players to attend training camps in advance in preparation for AFCON. Plus of course the recovery time afterwards…
The full list of Premier League players who could have played at AFCON:
Bournemouth: Amine Adli (Morocco)
Arsenal: No African players in current first-team squad
Aston Villa: Evann Guessand (Ivory Coast)
Brentfound: Dango urette by nationality), frellane on the French.
Brighton: Carlos Baleba (Cameroon)
Burnley: Axel Tuanzebe (DR Congo), Lyle Foster (South Africa), Hannibal Mejbri (Tunisia)
Chelsea: No African players in current first-team squad
Crystal Palace: Ismaila Sarr (Senegal), Christantus Uche (Nigeria), Cheick Doucoure (Mali), Chadi Riad (Morocco)
Everton: Iliman Ndiaye (Senegal), Idrissa Gueye (Senegal), Adam Aznou (Morocco)
Fulham: Calvin Bassey (Nigeria), Alex Iwobi (Nigeria), Samuel Chukwueze (Nigeria)
Leeds: No African players in the current first-team squad
Liverpool: Mohamed Salah (Egypt)
Man City: Omar Marmoush (Egypt), Rayan Ait-Nouri (Algeria)
Man U: Noussair Mazraoui (Morocco), Amad Diallo (Ivory Coast), Bryan Mbuemo (Cameroon)
Newcastle United: Yonne Wissa (Dr. Congo)
Nottingham Forest: Ibrahim Sangare (Ivory Coast), Taiwo Awoniyi (Nigeria), Willy Boly (Ivory Coast), Ola Aina (Nigeria)
Sunderland: Chemsdine Talbi (Morocco), Blondy Nna Noukeu (Cameroon), Reinildo Mandava (Mozambique), Habib Diarra (Senegal), Simon Adingra (Ivory Coast), Arthur Masuaku (DR Congo), Noah Sadiki (DR Congo), Ahmed Abdullahi (Nigeria), Bertrand Traore (Burkina Faso)
Tottenham: Yves Bissouma (Mali), Pape Matar Sarr (Senegal)
West Ham: El Hadji Malick Diouf (Senegal), Aaron Wan-Bissaka (Dr Congo)
Wolves: Marshall Munetsi (Zimbabwe), Emmanuel Agbadou (Ivory Coast), Tolu Arokodare (Nigeria), Tawanda Chirewa (Zimbabwe), Jackson Tchatchoua (Cameroon)
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