And then there were four. The 2025 Africa Cup of Nations is now at the semi-final stage, with Senegal taking on Egypt and Nigeria facing host nation Morocco as they strive to secure a spot in Sunday’s final.
AFCON semi-finals - Wednesday 14 January
Senegal v Egypt - 17:00 GMT (18:00 local)
Nigeria v Morocco - 20:00 GMT (21:00 local)
A total of 33 Premier League players departed their clubs in December to take part in AFCON, and 14 of them are still involved in the tournament almost one month later.
Here is everything you need to know about the closing stages of Africa’s biggest tournament, and the latest on who could be available for Premier League action with their clubs this weekend.
Senegal v Egypt
The first semi-final features the two finalists from AFCON 2021, when Sadio Mane helped Senegal to be crowned African champions after a penalty shootout victory over an Egypt side that included his Liverpool team-mate at the time, Mohamed Salah.
Only one of that pair is still at Anfield, and Salah's 2025/26 season at club level has been far from smooth with time spent out of Liverpool's line-up, on the substitutes' bench. He has had no such trouble at AFCON, where he has scored four goals across Egypt's five games so far and is in contention to win the tournament's golden-boot award.
Egypt topped their group, and then beat Benin and the holders Ivory Coast (they won AFCON 2023) to advance to the last four. Salah's partner in the Egypt forward line, Manchester City’s Omar Marmoush, has scored two goals, including the opener in their 3-2 quarter-final win over Ivory Coast.
Mane, on the other hand, has just one goal to his name, but many people expected Senegal to make the final even before a ball had been kicked in host country Morocco.
Senegal have the highest number of Premier League players at the tournament, six – El Hadji Malick Diouf (West Ham United), Habib Diarra (Sunderland), Idrissa Gueye and Iliman Ndiaye (both Everton), Pape Matar Sarr (Tottenham Hotspur) and Ismaila Sarr (Crystal Palace).
Their squad also includes former Chelsea duo Edouard Mendy and Kalidou Koulibaly, as well as Nicolas Jackson, who is currently on loan to Bayern Munich from Stamford Bridge.
Senegal have played some excellent attacking football at times, but only managed a 1-0 victory in the quarter-finals against a Mali side that did not win a single game in normal time during the tournament and were reduced to 10 men when Spurs’ Yves Bissouma was sent off in the first half.
Nigeria v Morocco
A heavyweight Nigeria side that surprisingly failed to qualify for this summer’s FIFA World Cup are the only remaining team to have won all five of their games at this tournament.
With three Fulham players in their squad – Calvin Bassey, Alex Iwobi and Samuel Chukwueze – as well as Brentford’s Frank Onyeka, Nigeria have a strong Premier League contingent.
Bassey and Iwobi, in particular, have shone throughout the tournament, and 4-0 and 2-0 knockout stage wins came with relative ease. In Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman, Nigeria also possess two of the tournament’s biggest names in their ranks.
Their clash against Morocco is expected to provide a considerably tougher task than anything they have encountered so far. The hosts have been cheered to the rafters in every game by a partisan home crowd, and their charge has been spearheaded by Real Madrid star Brahim Diaz, whose performances have put him in line for the player of the tournament award.
Diaz, who made five Premier League appearances for Man City in 2017/18, has scored in all five of Morocco’s games, including a commanding 2-0 win over Cameroon in the quarter-finals.
Bidding for a first AFCON triumph since 1976, Morocco are currently on a world-record 25-match unbeaten streak – a run stretching back to AFCON 2023 – and have the best defensive record in the current tournament, having conceded only once in five matches.
Manchester United’s Noussair Mazraoui has started every game for the hosts, with Sunderland's Chemsdine Talbi also part of the squad.
🫡 It’s #AFCON2025 semi-final day for Habib Diarra and Chemsdine Talbi!
— Sunderland AFC (@SunderlandAFC) January 14, 2026
With you all the way, Lads 👊 pic.twitter.com/6iU9W16nRo
Which Premier League players have returned to their clubs?
More than half of the Premier League players involved in this year’s AFCON have now finished their international duties and are back at their clubs, with many due to be assessed for fitness ahead of fixtures this weekend.
The upcoming Premier League action begins with a Manchester derby at Old Trafford, where hosts Man Utd will still be without AFCON semi-finalist Mazraoui but could benefit from the return of Cameroon’s Bryan Mbeumo and Ivory Coast’s Amad. Algeria left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri could play for Man City.
Sunderland are the biggest beneficiaries of returning players, with Bertrand Traore, Arthur Masuaku, Noah Sadiki and Reinildo Mandava all back from AFCON duty.
Other Premier League players who have returned in time for the weekend include Dango Ouattara (Brentford), Carlos Baleba (Brighton & Hove Albion), Axel Tuanzebe (Burnley), Willy Boly and Ibrahim Sangare (both Nottingham Forest), Bissouma (Spurs), Aaron Wan-Bissaka (West Ham), and Emmanuel Agbadou (Wolverhampton Wanderers).