How Will AFCON And Asian Cup Affect Premier League Teams In 2024? Liverpool And Spurs To Miss Star Men

AFCON and the AFC Asian Cup will take place in January and February 2024. But which Premier League players will be involved? How many EPL games will they miss?
How Will AFCON And Asian Cup Affect Premier League Teams In 2024? Liverpool And Spurs To Miss Star Men
How Will AFCON And Asian Cup Affect Premier League Teams In 2024? Liverpool And Spurs To Miss Star Men /

Two major international tournaments are set to take place in early 2024 and some of the best players from the Premier League will be involved.

Liverpool's Mo Salah is expected to captain Egypt at the Africa Cup of Nations in the Ivory Coast, while Tottenham skipper Son Heung-min will likely lead South Korea at the Asian Cup in Qatar.

But which other players might be taking a mid-season break from EPL duties to represent their countries?

Mohamed Salah pictured playing for Egypt against Djibouti in November 2023
Mohamed Salah will captain Egypt at the African Cup of Nations in the Ivory Coast in 2024 :: IMAGO/NurPhoto/Ayman Aref

List Of Premier League Players Expected To Feature At AFCON Or Asian Cup In 2024

  • Arsenal: Mohamed Elneny (Egypt), Thomas Partey (Ghana), Takehiro Tomiyasu (Japan).
  • Aston Villa: Bertrand Traore (Burkina Faso).
  • Bournemouth: Dango Ouattara (Burkina Faso), Antoine Semenyo (Ghana), Hamed Traore (Ivory Coast).
  • Brighton: Simon Adingra (Ivory Coast), Tariq Lamptey (Ghana), Samy Chouchane (Tunisia), Kaoru Mitoma (Japan).
  • Brentford: Yoane Wissa (DR Congo), Bryan Mbeumo (Cameroon), Frank Onyeka (Nigeria), Saman Ghoddos (Iran).
  • Burnley: Anass Zaroury (Morocco), Lyle Foster (South Africa).
  • Chelsea: Nicolas Jackson (Senegal).
  • Crystal Palace: Cheick Doucoure (Mali), Jordan Ayew (Ghana), Jeffrey Schlupp (Ghana).
  • Everton: Abdoulaye Doucoure (Mali), Idrissa Gueye (Senegal).
  • Fulham: Calvin Bassey (Nigeria), Alex Iwobi (Nigeria).
  • Liverpool: Joel Matip (Cameroon), Mohamed Salah (Egypt), Wataru Endo (Japan).
  • Luton Town: Issa Kabore (Burkina Faso), Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu (DR Congo).
  • Man City: No players.
  • Man United: Andre Onana (Cameroon), Amad Diallo (Ivory Coast), Sofyan Amrabat (Morocco), Hannibal Mejbri (Tunisia).
  • Newcastle: No players.
  • Nottingham Forest: Serge Aurier (Ivory Coast), Willy Boly (Ivory Coast), Ibrahim Sangare (Ivory Coast), Cheikhou Kouyate (Senegal), Moussa Niakhate (Senegal), Ola Aina (Nigeria), Emmanuel Dennis (Nigeria), Taiwo Awoniyi (Nigeria).
  • Sheffield United: Benie Traore (Ivory Coast) Ismaila Coulibaly (Mali) Anis Ben Slimane (Tunisia).
  • Tottenham: Pape Matar Sarr (Senegal) Yves Bissouma (Mali), Son Heung-min (South Korea).
  • West Ham: Said Benrahma (Algeria) Mohamed Kudus (Ghana) Maxwell Cornet (Ivory Coast) Nayef Aguerd (Morocco).
  • Wolves: Rayan Ait-Nouri (Algeria) Boubacar Traore (Mali), Hwang Hee-chan (South Korea).
South Korea captain Son Heung-min pictured celebrating after scoring against Costa Rica in September 2022
Son Heung-min will be the most famous Premier League player at the AFC Asian Cup :: IMAGO/Penta Press/Seokyong Lee

Tournament Dates

AFCON 2023 and the 2023 AFC Asian Cup are actually taking place in 2024, despite their names.

Both tournaments were originally scheduled for summer in 2023 before being postponed due to concerns about weather.

AFCON 2023 will now start on January 13, 2024 and finish on February 11. The group stage will conclude on January 24.

The Asian Cup will begin on January 12 and end with the final on February 10. Its group stage will finish on January 25.

How Many Premier League Games Will Players Miss?

Every player involved in either AFCON 2023 or the Asian Cup will be unavailable for the Premier League's matchweek 21, which will be spread across two weekends.

Those knocked out at the end of the group stage will likely only miss one Premier League game.

However, if a player is part of a team that reaches the final of either tournament then he will miss four EPL matches.

Premier League Fixtures During AFCON And Asian Cup

  • Chelsea vs Fulham (Jan 13)
  • Newcastle vs Man City (Jan 13)
  • Everton vs Aston Villa (Jan 14)
  • Man United vs Tottenham (Jan 14)
  • Burnley vs Luton Town (Jan 15)
  • Arsenal vs Crystal Palace (Jan 20)
  • Brentford vs Nottingham Forest (Jan 20)
  • Sheffield United vs West Ham (Jan 21)
  • Bournemouth vs Liverpool (Jan 21)
  • Brighton vs Wolves (Jan 22)
  • Nottingham Forest vs Arsenal (Jan 30)
  • Luton Town vs Brighton (Jan 30)
  • Fulham vs Everton (Jan 30)
  • Crystal Palace vs Sheffield United (Jan 30)
  • Aston Villa vs Newcastle (Jan 30)
  • Man City vs Burnley (Jan 31)
  • Tottenham vs Brentford (Jan 31)
  • Liverpool vs Chelsea (Jan 31)
  • West Ham vs Bournemouth (Feb 1)
  • Wolves vs Man United (Feb 1)
  • Everton vs Tottenham (Feb 3)
  • Brighton vs Crystal Palace (Feb 3)
  • Newcastle vs Luton Town (Feb 3)
  • Burnley vs Fulham (Feb 3)
  • Sheffield United vs Aston Villa (Feb 3)
  • Man United West Ham (Feb 4)
  • Chelsea vs Wolves (Feb 4)
  • Bournemouth vs Nottingham Forest (Feb 4)
  • Arsenal vs Liverpool (Feb 4)
  • Brentford vs Man City (Feb 5)
  • Man City vs Everton (Feb 10)
  • Wolves vs Brentford (Feb 10)
  • Fulham vs Bournemouth (Feb 10)
  • Tottenham vs Brighton (Feb 10)
  • Luton Town vs Sheffield United (Feb 10)
  • Liverpool vs Burnley (Feb 10)
  • Nottingham Forest vs Newcastle (Feb 10)
  • West Ham vs Arsenal (Feb 11)
  • Aston Villa vs Man United (Feb 11)
  • Crystal Palace vs Chelsea (Feb 12)

Published
Robert Summerscales
ROBERT SUMMERSCALES

Robert Summerscales launched FanNation Futbol in February 2022. Rob is a British journalist who previously spent two years on the sports desk at the Daily Mail in London, having earlier served as editor of CaughtOffside.com. He has been to the last two FIFA Men's World Cups, in Russia and Qatar, and is looking forward to completing his hat-trick in North America in 2026.