A notable highlight of this year’s competition is the strong representation from the United Kingdom. In total, 62 players based in England, Scotland, and Wales will feature across the tournament, underlining the growing influence of African footballers in UK leagues.

Countries Without UK-Based Players

While most teams feature at least one player plying their trade in the UK, Benin, Botswana, Comoros, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and Sudan are the only nations heading to Morocco without any UK-based representation.

UK-Based AFCON 2025 Players by Country

Algeria

• Rayan Aït-Nouri (Manchester City) – Premier League

Angola

• Manuel Benson (Swansea City) – EFL

Burkina Faso

• Dango Ouattara (Brentford), Bertrand Traoré (Sunderland) – Premier League
• Issa Kaboré (Wrexham) – EFL
• Landry Kaboré (Hearts), Nasser Djiga (Rangers) – Scotland

Cameroon

• Carlos Baleba (Brighton), Bryan Mbeumo (Manchester United) – Premier League
• Junior Tchamadeu (Stoke City) – EFL

DR Congo

• Arthur Masuaku (Sunderland), Axel Tuanzebe (Burnley), Noah Sadiki (Sunderland), Aaron Wan-Bissaka (West Ham) – Premier League
• Edo Kayembe (Watford) – EFL
• Ange Balikwisha (Celtic) – Scotland

Egypt

• Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Omar Marmoush (Manchester City) – Premier League

Ivory Coast

• Emmanuel Agbadou (Wolves), Willy Boly (Nottingham Forest), Amad Diallo (Manchester United), Evann Guessand (Aston Villa), Ibrahim Sangaré (Nottingham Forest) – Premier League

Mali

• Yves Bissouma (Tottenham Hotspur) – Premier League
• Mamadou Doumbia (Watford) – EFL

Morocco

• Noussair Mazraoui (Manchester United), Chemsdine Talbi (Sunderland) – Premier League

Mozambique

• Reinildo Mandava (Sunderland) – Premier League
• Alfonso Amade (Dunfermline Athletic) – Scotland

Nigeria

• Calvin Bassey, Samuel Chukwueze, Alex Iwobi (Fulham), Frank Onyeka (Brentford) – Premier League
• Semi Ajayi (Hull City), Ryan Alebiosu (Blackburn Rovers), Bright Osayi-Samuel (Birmingham City) – EFL

Senegal

• Habib Diarra (Sunderland), El Hadji Malik Diouf (West Ham), Idrissa Gana Gueye (Everton), Iliman Ndiaye (Everton), Ismaila Sarr (Crystal Palace), Pape Matar Sarr (Tottenham) – Premier League

South Africa

• Lyle Foster (Burnley) – Premier League
• Tylon Smith (QPR) – EFL

Tanzania

• Haji Mnoga (Salford City) – EFL
• Tarryn Allarakhia (Rochdale) – Non-League

Tunisia

• Hannibal Mejbri (Burnley) – Premier League
• Yan Valery (Sheffield Wednesday) – EFL
• Sebastian Tounekti (Celtic) – Scotland

Uganda

• Toby Sibbick (Burton Albion) – EFL
• Uche Ikpeazu (St Johnstone), Jordan Obita (Hibernian) – Scotland

Zambia

• Patson Daka (Leicester City) – Premier League
• Miguel Chaiwa (Hibernian) – Scotland

Zimbabwe

• Tawanda Chirewa (Wolves) – Premier League
• Sean Fusire (Sheffield Wednesday), Brendan Galloway (Plymouth Argyle), Marvelous Nakamba (Luton Town), Andy Rinomhota (Reading) – EFL
• Tawanda Maswanhise (Motherwell) – Scotland
• Alec Mudimu (Flint Town) – Wales
• Macauley Bonne (Maldon & Tiptree) – Non-League

AFCON 2025: Key Dates to Know

• Players released by clubs: December 15
• Group stage: December 21 – December 31
• Round of 16: January 3 – January 6
• Quarter-finals: January 9 – January 10
• Semi-finals: January 14
• Third-place match: January 17
• Final: January 18