Dec. 21, 2025, 10:30 a.m. ET
The Africa Cup of Nations has arrived, which means several Premier League teams will be forced to make do without several key players.
Unlike many continental tournaments, AFCON takes place in the middle of European league seasons. That will see some teams missing players for as much as a month — or longer.
This year’s AFCON runs from Dec. 21 to Jan. 18 in Morocco, where Ivory Coast will look to defend the title it won two years ago.
Some Premier League clubs will be affected more than others when it comes to AFCON absences. While six teams won’t lose any players, Sunderland will lose six — the most in the division.
Here is a list of every Premier League team and the players they will be missing for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.
- Arsenal: No players
- Aston Villa: No players
- Bournemouth: No players
- Brentford (2): Dango Ouattara (Burkina Faso), Frank Onyeka (Nigeria)
- Brighton (1): Carlos Baleba (Cameroon)
- Burnley (3): Axel Tuanzebe (DR Congo), Lyle Foster (South Africa), Hannibal Mejbri (Tunisia)
- Chelsea: No players
- Crystal Palace (1): Ismaïla Sarr (Senegal)
- Everton (2): Idrissa Gueye (Senegal), Iliman Ndiaye (Senegal)
- Fulham (3): Calvin Bassey (Nigeria), Alex Iwobi (Nigeria), Samuel Chukwueze (Nigeria)
- Leeds: No players
- Liverpool (1): Mohamed Salah (Egypt)
- Manchester City (2): Rayan Aït-Nouri (Algeria), Omar Marmoush (Egypt)
- Manchester United (3): Bryan Mbeumo (Cameroon), Amad Diallo (Ivory Coast), Noussair Mazraoui (Morocco)
- Newcastle: No players
- Nottingham Forest (2): Willy Boly (Ivory Coast), Ibrahim Sangaré (Ivory Coast)
- Sunderland (6): Bertrand Traoré (Burkina Faso), Arthur Masuaka (DR Congo), Noah Sadiki (DR Congo), Chemsdine Talbi (Morocco), Reinildo (Mozambique), Habib Diarra (Senegal)
- Tottenham (2): Yves Bissouma (Mali), Pape Matar Sarr (Senegal)
- West Ham (2): Aaron Wan-Bissaka (DR Congo), El Hadji Malick Diouf (Senegal)
- Wolves (2): Emmanuel Agbadou (Ivory Coast), Tawanda Chirewa (Zimbabwe)
