Africa Cup of Nations & Asian Cup: Which Premier League players are at the tournaments?
Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana, Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah and Tottenham forward Son Heung-min are among those who are set to be in action at the Afcon and Asian Cup
The Africa Cup of Nations and the Asian Cup both begin in January and it will mean dozens of stars from the Premier League travelling to participate.
Afcon runs from 13 January to 11 February in Ivory Coast and the Asian Cup is in Qatar from 12 January to 10 February.
Although the tournaments coincide with winter breaks across some European leagues, Premier League clubs will face a number of weeks without first-team regulars.
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp, who will lose top scorer and Egypt captain Mohamed Salah, said it is something clubs have to plan for.
“We knew the Africa Cup of Nations from time to time appears and Mo has to go,” Klopp said.
“We have [Wataru] Endo as a participant of the Asian Cup as well, so it is like it is. We have to deal with it and we will.”
Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou guided his country Australia to Asian Cup glory in 2015 said both tournaments are important for players who come from the respective regions.
“I rank it pretty highly, I think it’s pretty important,” he said. “A lot of European people think the European Championships are pretty important – well, it’s the same for the Asian Cup or the African Cup of Nations.”
Have the finalised squads been named yet?
The short answer is not quite, so there could yet be some late additions and withdrawals.
Angola, Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, DR Congo ,Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia have named their final Afcon squads.
Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Gambia, Ghana, Mali, Zambia and Tanzania have so far only named provisional squads of up to 55 players for the tournament.
The final list of up to 27 players per national team for the Afcon has to be submitted by 3 January 2024.
Australia, Iraq, Malaysia and South Korea have announced their final 26-man squads for the Asian Cup.
China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Qatar, Syria, Tajikistan, United Arab Emirates and Vietnam have so far named provisional squads of up to 50 players.
Bahrain, Iran, Japan, Oman, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Thailand and Uzbekistan have submitted provisional squads to the Asian Football Federation, but have not made them public. Therefore, any players included below from those countries are based on their likely inclusion following recent international fixtures.
Squads for the Asian Cup have to be finalised by 2 January 2024.
AFC Bournemouth – 2
Dango Ouattara (Forward, Burkina Faso)
Antoine Semenyo (Forward, Ghana)
Midfielder Hamed Traore was named in Ivory Coast’s provisional squad list but not in the final squad announced on 28 December after contracting malaria.
Arsenal – 3
Mohamed Elneny (Midfielder, Egypt)
Thomas Partey (Midfielder, Ghana)
Takehiro Tomiyasu (Defender, Japan)
Aston Villa – 1
Bertrand Traore (Midfielder, Burkina Faso)
Brentford – 4
Saman Ghoddos (Midfielder, Iran)
Kim Ji-soo (Defender, South Korea)
Frank Onyeka (Midfielder, Nigeria)
Yoane Wissa (Forward, DR Congo)
Midfielder Bryan Mbeumo was named in Cameroon’s provisional squad list but not in the final squad announced on 28 December after an ankle injury.
Brighton – 2
Simon Adingra (Forward, Ivory Coast)
Tariq Lamptey (Defender, Ghana)
Forward Kaoru Mitoma inclusion for Japan is in doubt after he was ruled out for four to six weeks with an ankle injury.
Midfielder Samy Chouchane was named in Tunisia’s provisional squad list but not in the final squad announced on 28 December.
Burnley – 1
Basilio Rieno (Midfielder, Equatorial Guinea) In Burnley’s U21s squad
Forward Lyle Foster was named in South Africa’s provisional squad list but not in the final squad announced on 28 December after the recurrence of a mental health issue.
Chelsea – 1
Nicolas Jackson (Forward, Senegal)
Crystal Palace – 1
Jordan Ayew (Forward, Ghana)
Cheick Doucoure (Midfielder, Mali)
Everton – 1
Idrissa Gueye (Midfielder, Senegal)
Fulham – 3
Fode Ballo-Toure (Defender, Senegal) On loan from AC Milan
Calvin Bassey (Defender, Nigeria)
Alex Iwobi (Midfielder, Nigeria)
Liverpool – 2
Wataru Endo (Midfielder, Japan)
Mohamed Salah (Forward, Egypt)
Luton – 1
Issa Kabore (Defender, Burkina Faso)
Midfielder Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu was named in DR Congo provisional squad list but but not in the final squad announced on 27 December.
Manchester City – 0
Manchester United – 3
Sofyan Amrabat (Midfielder, Morocco) On loan from Fiorentina
Amad Diallo (Forward, Ivory Coast)
Andre Onana (Goalkeeper, Cameroon)
Midfielder Hannibal Mejbri was named in Tunisia’s provisional squad list but not in the final squad announced on 28 December after he asked to be left out of the squad.
Newcastle – 0
Nottingham Forest – 6
Ola Aina (Defender, Nigeria)
Serge Aurier (Defender, Ivory Coast)
Willy Boly (Defender, Ivory Coast)
Cheikhou Kouyate (Midfielder, Senegal)
Moussa Niakhate (Defender, Senegal)
Ibrahim Sangare (Midfielder, Ivory Coast)
Sheffield United – 2
Yasser Larouci (Defender, Algeria) On loan from Troyes
Anis Ben Slimane (Midfielder, Tunisia)
Forward Benie Traore was named in the Ivory Coast provisional squad list but not in the final squad announced on 28 December.
Tottenham – 3
Yves Bissouma (Midfielder, Mali)
Son Heung-min (Forward, South Korea)
Pape Matar Sarr (Midfielder, Senegal)
West Ham – 3
Nayef Aguerd (Defender, Morocco)
Mohammed Kudus (Midfielder, Ghana)
Forward Maxwel Cornet was named in the Ivory Coast provisional squad list but not in the final squad announced on 28 December.
Forward Said Benrahma was named in the Algeria provisional squad list but not in the final squad announced on 29 December.
Wolves – 4
Hwang Hee-chan (Midfielder, South Korea)
Justin Hubner (Defender, Indonesia)
Rayan Ait-Nouri (Defender, Algeria)
Boubacar Traore (Midfielder, Mali)
