There were 23 Premier League players still at the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) ahead of the quarter-finals – but now only 14 remain after the last-eight ties played out on Friday and Saturday.
In the latest of our regular round-ups, we bring you up to speed on how many players we can expect to see soon and who remains in Morocco.
GAMEWEEK/AFCON ROUND OVERVIEW
Before we begin, a reminder of how the AFCON rounds match up with Fantasy Premier League (FPL) Gameweeks:
SHOULD BE BACK IN GAMEWEEK 22
Three of the 33 Premier League players who went away to AFCON have already been back in Premier League action following their countries’ exits.
Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Tawanda Chirewa (£4.3m) was involved in Gameweek 20, with Burnley duo Hannibal Mejbri (£4.7m) and Lyle Foster (£4.9m) reappearing in Gameweek 21.
Here’s who we can expect to see back in the English top flight in Gameweek 22:
| Nation | Premier League players | Round of elimination | Date of elimination |
| Ivory Coast | Guessand (AVL), Amad (MUN), Boly (NFO), Sangare (NFO), Agbadou (WOL) | Quarter-finals | January 10 |
| Algeria | Ait-Nouri (MCI) | Quarter-finals | January 10 |
| Mali | Bissouma (TOT) | Quarter-finals | January 9 |
| Cameroon | Baleba (BHA), Mbeumo (MUN) | Quarter-finals | January 9 |
| Burkina Faso | Ouattara (BRE), Traore (SUN) | Last 16 | January 6 |
| DR Congo | Tuanzebe (BUR), Sadiki (SUN), Masuaku (SUN), Wan-Bissaka (WHU) | Last 16 | January 6 |
| Mozambique | Reinildo (SUN) | Last 16 | January 5 |
Noah Sadiki (£4.9m) and Axel Tuanzebe (£3.9m), indeed, were back in their clubs’ matchday squads in the FA Cup on Saturday.
Bryan Mbeumo (£8.1m), Rayan Ait-Nouri (£5.7m) are Dango Ouattara (£5.8m) are among the most notable names who we can expect to see in Gameweek 22.
The pre-match press conferences on Thursday and Friday later this week will be worth listening to, just to ensure that each of the above players haven’t been given an extended post-tournament break by their managers.
But it’s not like this AFCON contingent have logged any more game-time than their teammates back home. Mbeumo has put in 405 minutes since he left for Morocco, while Matheus Cunha (£8.2m) has logged 434 Premier League minutes for Manchester United.
EXPECTED BACK IN GAMEWEEK 23
| Nation | Premier League players |
| Egypt | Salah (LIV), Marmoush (MCI) |
| Morocco | Mazraoui (MUN), Talbi (SUN) |
| Nigeria | Onyeka (BRE), Bassey (FUL), Iwobi (FUL), Chukwueze (FUL) |
| Senegal | I Sarr (CRY), Gueye (EVE), Ndiaye (EVE), Diarra (SUN), P Sarr (TOT), Diouf (WHU) |
The above four nations, and the players listed, have all made the semi-finals. In FPL terms, that means no return till Gameweek 23.
Even if the players’ countries are knocked out in the last four, there’s a third/fourth-place play-off to contest on the weekend of Gameweek 22.
And, if you’re thinking that the eliminated semi-finalists might let some of their players return to the UK early, rather than stay for the bronze medal match, that hasn’t happened in previous tournaments. Yoane Wissa (£7.3m) in 2023, Bertrand Traore (£5.5m) in 2021 and Alex Iwobi (£6.3m) in 2019 are examples of Premier League players who featured in the third/fourth-place play-off.
So, the likes of Ismaila Sarr (£6.4m), Iliman Ndiaye (£6.2m), Mohamed Salah (£14.0m) and Omar Marmoush (£8.3m) almost certainly won’t be seen until Gameweek 23.
