Here are the players who will miss the upcoming Premier League fixtures due to the AFCON 2025 tournament scheduled for December 21st.
The Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2025 will begin on 21 December 2025, with players required to report to their national teams by Monday, 15 December. The group stage ends on 31 December, meaning players whose nations are eliminated early may only miss a limited number of domestic fixtures.
Premier League clubs will be affected to varying degrees. Sunderland are the most impacted, while Arsenal, Aston Villa, Bournemouth, Chelsea, Leeds and Newcastle have no players involved in the tournament.
Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim is attempting to negotiate with national teams to allow Amad Diallo, Bryan Mbeumo and Noussair Mazraoui to play against Bournemouth before joining their squads.
Premier League Players Selected for AFCON 2025
- Sunderland – Chemsdine Talbi (Morocco)
- Sunderland – Reinildo (Mozambique)
- Sunderland – Bertrand Traoré (Burkina Faso)
- Sunderland – Arthur Masuaku (DR Congo)
- Sunderland – Noah Sadiki (DR Congo)
- Sunderland – Habib Diarra (Senegal, squad pending)
- Manchester United – Bryan Mbeumo (Cameroon)
- Manchester United – Amad Diallo (Ivory Coast)
- Manchester United – Noussair Mazraoui (Morocco)
- Fulham – Alex Iwobi
- Fulham – Calvin Bassey
- Fulham – Samuel Chukwueze
- Burnley – Axel Tuanzebe (DR Congo)
- Burnley – Lyle Foster (South Africa)
- Burnley – Hannibal Mejbri (Tunisia)
- Brentford – Dango Ouattara (Burkina Faso)
- Brentford – Frank Onyeka
- Brighton & Hove Albion – Carlos Baleba (Cameroon)
- Crystal Palace – Ismaïla Sarr (Senegal)
- Everton – Iliman Ndiaye (Senegal)
- Everton – Idrissa Gueye (Senegal)
- Liverpool – Mohamed Salah (Egypt)
- Manchester City – Omar Marmoush (Egypt)
- Manchester City – Rayan Aït-Nouri (Algeria)
- Nottingham Forest – Willy Boly (Ivory Coast)
- Nottingham Forest – Ibrahim Sangaré (Ivory Coast)
- Tottenham Hotspur – Yves Bissouma (Mali)
- Tottenham Hotspur – Pape Matar Sarr (Senegal, squad pending)
- West Ham United – Aaron Wan-Bissaka (DR Congo)
- West Ham United – El Hadji Malick Diouf (Senegal, squad pending)
- Wolves – Emmanuel Agbadou (Ivory Coast)
- Wolves – Tawanda Chirewa (Zimbabwe)
AFCON 2025 will significantly disrupt certain Premier League squads, particularly Sunderland, while others will feel minimal or no impact. The length of each player’s absence will largely depend on how far their national teams progress in the tournament.
