There are more than 30 Premier League players away from their clubs for the Africa Cup of Nations in the Ivory Coast, but it’s no surprise who’s made the biggest splash.
Liverpool megastar Mohamed Salah had an assist to go with his stoppage-time penalty as Egypt opened the tournament with a memorable win, but was injured in the second game and is waiting on a pesky hamstring injury as the Pharoahs went through to the knockout rounds via a trio of draws.
[ MORE: AFCON schedule, groups, dates ]
As for other standouts...
Aston Villa’s Bertrand Traore scored in a short stint for Burkina Faso in a win over Ethiopia and finished the group stage with two goals, and former Villa man Trezeguet has a goal and two assists for Villa. Crystal Palace’s Jordan Ayew set up a goal in Ghana’s surprising loss to Cape Verde and wasn’t to blame for the nation’s rough tournament as his three goal contributions are tied with a host of players for second-most in the tournament (to Equatorial Guinea’s Emilio Nsue). The same lack of blame can be applied to West Ham’s Mohammed Kudus from his time with Ghana.
Nigeria center back Calvin Bassey (Fulham) started the Super Eagles’ final two matches and his 3.9 tackles per game are second-top, while Senegal’s Pape Sarr (Spurs) led the group stage in interceptions per game with 3.1.
There have been some solid single-game showings from Premier League players to note. Wolves’ Rayan Ait-Nouri — linked with Liverpool and Man United — impressed in Algeria’s 1-1 draw with Angola. Senegal’s 3-0 blowout of Gambia got a starring performance from Nottingham Forest’s Moussa Niakhate.
The tournament runs from January 13 until February 11 and below we have a list of every single Premier League player called up to represent their nation and take a look at how they’re getting on.
Which Premier League players are at the Africa Cup of Nations?
Group A
Ivory Coast: Serge Aurier (Nottingham Forest), Willy Boly (Nottingham Forest), Ibrahim Sangare (Nottingham Forest), Simon Adingra (Brighton)
Nigeria: Ola Aina (Nottingham Forest), Calvin Bassey (Fulham), Alex Iwobi (Fulham), Frank Onyeka (Brentford)
Group B
Egypt: Mohamed Elneny (Arsenal), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
Ghana: Jordan Ayew (Crystal Palace), Mohammed Kudus (West Ham), Antoine Semenyo (Bournemouth)
Group C
Senegal: Fode Ballo-Toure (Fulham), Moussa Niakhate (Nottingham Forest), Idrissa Gueye (Everton), Chekihou Kouyate (Nottingham Forest), Pape Matar Sarr (Tottenham), Nicolas Jackson (Chelsea)
Cameroon: Andre Onana (Manchester United)
Group D
Algeria: Rayan Ait-Nouri (Wolves), Yasser Larouci (Sheffield United)
Burkina Faso: Issa Kabore (Luton Town), Bertrand Traore (Aston Villa), Dango Ouattara (Bournemouth)
Group E
Tunisia: Anis Ben Slimane (Sheffield United)
Mali: Yves Bissouma (Tottenham), Boubacar Traore (Wolves)
Group F
Morocco: Nayef Aguerd (West Ham), Sofyan Amrabat (Manchester United)
DR Congo: Yoane Wissa (Brentford)