Foreign players of Egyptian Premier League to follow in AFCON 2019

The qualifiers of the CAF Africa Cup of Nations came to an end. The finals will be held next summer from 21 June to 19 July in Egypt, and the 24 qualified teams were announced.

Senegal, and Madagascar were qualified from Group A, Morocco and Cameroon from Group B, Mali and Burundi from Group C, Algeria and Benin from Group D, Nigeria and South Africa from Group E, Ghana and Kenya from Group F, and Zimbabwe and DR Congo from Group G.

Guinea and Cote d’Ivoire were qualified from Group H, Angola and Mauritania from Group I, Egypt (host) and Tunisia from Group J, Guinea-Bissau and Namibia from Group K, and Uganda and Tanzania from Group L.

In this edition of AFCON, Egyptians will not only be following their national team, but also the foreign players who play for Egyptian clubs in the Egyptian Premier League, most prominently, the trio of the Tunisian team, Hamdi Nagguez, Ferjani Sassi, and Ali Maâloul. Nagguez and Sassi play now for Zamalek SC, while Maâloul plays for Al Ahly SC.

Alain Giresse, the coach of the Tunisian national team, is expected to rely on the three players who have previously played with Tunisia in the FIFA World Cup in Russia under the former coach Nabil Maâloul.

Moroccan Khalid Boutaïb is considered one of the main players in the Atlantic Lions team even before he joined Zamalek. French Hervé Renard relies heavily on him to lead the team’s attacking line. The Moroccan team is also likely to include Al Ahly’s star Walid Azaro, and Zamalek’s winger Hamid Ahaddad.

Al Ahly’s Geraldo is also expected to play with Angola’s national team. The player presents a good performance with the Cairo giants and definitely will be followed by the Egyptian fans.

The Namibian Benson Shilongo, who currently plays for Ismaily SC, will likely be included in his national team’s squad which return to AFCON after an 11-year absence.

Tanzanian players Himid Mao Mkami (Petrojet SC) and Shiza Kichuya (Enppi SC) will join their national team in AFCON which also return after a 39-year absence.

Malagasy Paulin Voavy who plays for Misr Lel Makkasa SC will also join Madagascar’s national team which will make their debut in AFCON finals this year. Voavy is one of the main players of the current squad of Madagascar.

Aboubacar Diarra, the attacking midfielder of Enppi SC, will be seen with Mali in AFCON, after he played most of the qualifiers.

DR Congo’s win over Liberia in the last round of AFCON qualifiers gave the chance to Enppi’s forward Chadrack Lukombe to play with his national team in the prestigious championship for the first time in his career.

For Zamalek’s Kabongo Kasongo, there are doubts about his participation with DR Congo in AFCON, as he is in a race against time to recover from his recent injury.

Journey of qualified teams for AFCON 2019

Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Mauritania, Ghana, Senegal, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Congo, Mali, Guinea, Uganda, South Africa, Guinea-Bissau, Zimbabwe, Angola, Benin, Burundi, Tanzania, Namibia, Kenya, and Madagascar.

Africa Cup of Nations 2019 seeding pots

AFCON 2019 qualified teams’ previous appearances