Serie A is set to lose 21 players for the next AFCON. Who are they?
The next AFCON will grab 21 players from Serie A. There are also 6 players among Serie B, Serie C and Serie D that will take part in the tournament.
Andrea Locorotondo
Updated on 17 December 2025
Everything is in place for the start of the 2026 Africa Cup of Nations. It’ll kick off on 21 December 2025, with the final taking place on Sunday 18 January.
The tournament was originally meant to be held last summer, but it got postponed because of the whole FIFA Club World Cup thing. Morocco, the host nation, will kick off the tournament in Rabat against Comoros. The hosts should have no trouble reaching the play-offs as group winners. It’s the same story for Egypt in Group B, where they’ve got South Africa as their main rival, and Nigeria in Group C, with Tunisia looking to cause them problems. Senegal and Congo are the favourites to progress in Group D, while Algeria and the dark horse Burkina Faso could make their mark in Group E. The defending champions, Côte d’Ivoire, have a tough group, facing Cameroon, Gabon and Mozambique.
Lecce set to lose three key players. Lazio and Atalanta are not particularly happy.
Serie A will be well represented at this year’s AFCON, with 21 players taking part. Lecce are the team that’s going to provide more: Lassana Coulibaly (Mali), Lameck Banda (Zambia) and Kialonda Gaspar (Angola). Then, Lazio’s players: Fisayo Dele-Bashiru (Nigeria), Boulaye Dia (Senegal) and the Atalanta players. Ademola Lookman (Nigeria) and Odilon Kossounou (Cote d’Ivoire). Cagliari are sending Joseph Liteta (Zambia) and Zito Luvumbo (Angola), while Como have just said goodbye to Assane Diao (Senegal) even if he hasn’t recovered from his latest injury yet. Roma will also have to manage without Neil El Aynaoui (Morocco) and Evan Ndicka (Cote d’Ivoire).
Who else is going to be involved?
Other Serie A players involved are:
- GENOA: Jean Onana (Cameroon)
- PISA: Mbala Nzola (Angola), Ebenezer Akinsanmiro (Nigeria)
- SASSUOLO: Woyo Coulibaly (Cameroon)
- TORINO: Adam Masina (Morocco), Saul Coco (Equatorial Guinea).
- UDINESE: Rui Modesto (Angola), Vakoun Bayo (Cote d’Ivoire)
And that’s not all! Serie B, Serie C and Serie D are going to be represented as well. Frosinone is in with Anthony and Jeremy Oyono (Gabon), Bari with Mehdi Dorval (Algeria), Monza with Pedro Obiang (Equatorial Guinea). From Serie C is Vis Pesaro midfielder José Machin that will be among the ranks of Equatorial Guinea, while Serie D will be represented by Mestre defender Faisal Bangal (Mozambique).
Andrea Locorotondo
Andrea Locorotondo is an Italian sports journalist. He has been living in the UK since 2015 and he is accredited by the SJA and AIPS. In addition to his role as contributor for FootItalia, he has demonstrated his ability to effectively cover a range of positions in sports journalism. Former Sportitalia TV journalist back in 2014, he is currently employed as a data journalist for Opta and Sportsdata. He is the team leader of Italian commentators at GBVision. He collaborates with EA Sports and frequently appears as a guest on Italian radio and television shows, including RDS Serie A TV and La Fiera del Calcio, where he shares his insights as a Premier League expert.
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