How AFCON impacts Fantasy - and how to plan for it

The Scout explains what managers in Fantasy Premier League need to know about the impact of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), including when they will receive up to FIVE free transfers.

Managers in Fantasy will be given extra free transfers in Gameweek 16 to help plan around this season’s Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), which begins in December.

The tournament, which involves players from 24 African countries, takes place midway through the Premier League season, starting on Sunday 21 December 2025 and finishing on Sunday 18 January 2026.

From a Fantasy perspective, the AFCON matches cover Gameweeks 17-22.

However, there is a possibility that some players will leave early for the tournament ahead of the Gameweek 16 fixtures.

Dates of AFCON matches and the corresponding GWs in FPL

As a result, your total number of free transfers in Fantasy will be topped up to the maximum possible number of five immediately after the Gameweek 15 deadline at 11:00 GMT on Saturday 6 December, ahead of Gameweek 16.

This will allow you to react if any members of your FPL squad do depart early, while also helping you avoid any potential price drops when rival managers sell the same players.

Strategically, in order to fully profit from the extra free transfers, managers would be wise to ensure they have ZERO free transfers before the Gameweek 15 deadline.

This would mean that, along with your usual free transfer for Gameweek 16, you would benefit from FOUR more of them.

By contrast, if you banked your free transfers in Gameweeks 14 and 15 and went into Gameweek 16 with three of them, you would only be given two extra for AFCON, and you would miss out on the other two that were available.

Consider your chip strategy

There are only seven Gameweeks remaining to use your chips in the first half of 2025/26 Fantasy, so the extra free transfers handed to us for the AFCON should be factored into your planning. 

For example, the Wildcard and Bench Boost chips are typically used in conjunction, with managers ensuring they have 15 players who are all regular starters prior to playing the Bench Boost chip to gain points from all of their squad. 

But by using the extra free transfers to prepare your squad for a Bench-Boost in Gameweeks 16-19, you could also bring forward your Wildcard plans to Gameweek 13 or 14 and benefit from players with good fixtures in the short term. 

Who are the key players going to AFCON?

Manchester United’s Bryan Mbeumo (£8.6m) and Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah (£14.2m) are the headline names among the departing AFCON stars. 

They are the second and fourth most-owned midfielders in Fantasy, with 36 and 23 per cent backing respectively. 

Meanwhile, Crystal Palace's Ismaila Sarr (£6.7m) and Everton's Iliman Ndiaye (£6.6m) are also in-form midfielders with ownerships in excess of 11 per cent.

The 15 players whose involvement at AFCON is likely to have the biggest impact on FPL managers are listed in the table below.

Due to Ghana not qualifying for AFCON, AFC Bournemouth star Antoine Semenyo (£8.0m) and Tottenham Hotspur's Mohammed Kudus (£6.5m) are unaffected and will remain with their clubs, along with Brighton & Hove Albion winger Yankuba Minteh (£6.0m), whose county Gambia also failed to qualify.

Buy Mbeumo or avoid him?

A look at the recent transfer activity shows that managers are undeterred by the impending departure of Mbeumo.

Indeed, he was the most-bought player in Gameweek 12, collecting 874,000+ new owners for his home match against Everton on Monday evening. 

Crucially, Mbeumo provides managers with the ideal combination of form and fixtures right now. 

He was the top-performing midfielder in Fantasy over Gameweeks 8-11, having scored four goals to collect 33 points. 

And the underlying statistics show why he should be the priority target for those looking to invest in Man Utd’s attack.

Over their last four matches, Mbeumo has had six of his side’s 11 big chances, which are situations where a player is expected to score.

He has also created a further two such opportunities for his team-mates, meaning he has been involved in eight big chances during this spell, twice the total of any other Man Utd player. 

Top Man Utd big-chance stats, GW8-11

Scroll across to see the full table on mobile

That huge goal threat in particular can help Mbeumo profit from a very favourable run of short-term opponents. 

According to the Fixture Difficulty Ratings (FDR), where the difficulty of each fixture is ranked from one to five - with one being the easiest possible match and five being the hardest - two of Man Utd's next three matches score only two. 

Those kind match-ups, at home to West Ham United and at Wolverhampton Wanderers, can be worth the investment alone before Mbeumo leaves for AFCON, when you can use one of your extra free transfers to sell him.

Man Utd's next three matches

What about Salah and Sarr?

At opposite ends of the price scale, Salah and Sarr also have great short-term runs of opponents. 

Each of Liverpool's upcoming matches - away to West Ham and at home to Sunderland - score only two in the FDR.

Despite those favourable fixtures, Liverpool and Salah's form makes it very difficult to justify any investment right now. 

Although he still remains Liverpool's best attacker in Fantasy, the bottom line here is that the Egyptian is simply failing to live up to his premium cost, with just 56 points to his name this season - some 48 behind fellow premium star Erling Haaland (£14.9m) at the top of the player standings.

Unless you're on a Wildcard and fancy a very short-term punt, it's simply not worth taking points hits to bring Salah in, particularly if you have to sell him soon afterwards.

Sarr, meanhwile, has scored twice in two of the Eagles' last five matches across all competitions. 

A cost of £6.7m makes him a lot easier to accommodate in your midfield, with Palace visiting two of the bottom-six sides - Burnley and Fulham - over Gameweeks 14-15.