SPFL Players Set for Africa Cup of Nations 2025

Scottish Clubs Face Festive Period Without Key Players

Seven Scottish clubs will be without key players during the busy festive period as the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) 2025 kicks off in Morocco. A total of 10 players based in Scotland have been called up for the tournament, which runs from 21 December to 18 January.

The absence of these players will be felt across the Scottish Premiership, with each of the top five sides losing at least one player. Championship promotion hopefuls St Johnstone and Dunfermline Athletic will also be affected. This marks a significant increase from the three players who represented Scottish clubs at Afcon 2023.

Hibernian Hit Hardest with Three Absences

Hibernian will be the most impacted, losing three players to the tournament:

• Rocky Bushiri (DR Congo): The 26-year-old defender has become a key part of David Gray’s central defence, earning four caps for his country.
• Miguel Chaiwa (Zambia): The 21-year-old midfielder, who joined from Young Boys in the summer, has 11 caps for Zambia and has recently secured consecutive starting places in Hibs’ midfield.
• Jordan Obita (Uganda): The 32-year-old left-back, born in Oxford, has six caps for Uganda and has been competing for a starting place with Nicky Cadden.

Uganda has yet to publicly announce which two players from their provisional 30-man squad have missed out, but Hibs are assuming Obita will be heading to Morocco. As of Friday afternoon, Hibs head coach David Gray was still unsure if any of the trio would be permitted to face Rangers on Monday.

The three players will at least miss games against Dundee United (A), Heart of Midlothian (H), and Aberdeen (H), with a possible absence for the match against Kilmarnock (A).

Celtic to Miss Two Wide Men

Celtic would have had three players at the tournament if not for Kelechi Iheanacho‘s recent hamstring injury. The 29-year-old striker’s return to action came too late for him to force his way into the Nigeria squad. However, new manager Wilfried Nancy will still be without two wide men:

• Sebastian Tounekti (Tunisia): The 23-year-old has become a regular starter since his summer purchase from Hammarby. He has played three times for Tunisia since switching allegiance from Norway in 2021.
• Michel-Ange Balikwisha (DR Congo): The 24-year-old, born in Belgium, made his DR Congo debut last month in a World Cup qualifying win over Nigeria, coming off the bench to score in the penalty shoot-out. His impact with Celtic has been limited to two starts out of 11 appearances.

The duo will be missing for games against Dundee United (A), Aberdeen (H), Livingston (A), and Motherwell (A), and likely the match against Rangers (H).

Read also: Saint Mirren vs Celtic Prediction: 14.12.2025 Scottish League Cup Final Preview

Rangers Lose One Player

Rangers could have had as many as three players heading to Morocco. However, midfielder Mohamed Diomande failed to make the Ivory Coast squad, and striker Youssef Chermiti has not yet switched allegiances from Portugal to Tunisia. This leaves just one Rangers player heading to Afcon:

• Nasser Djiga (Burkina Faso): The 23-year-old centre-half, who has eight caps for Burkina Faso, has struggled since arriving on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers. However, with John Souttar and Derek Cornelius both injured, he has become first choice alongside Emmanuel Fernandez in recent weeks. His absence leaves head coach Danny Rohl short of options but hopeful Djiga will be allowed to face Hibs on Monday.

Djiga will at least miss games against Hearts (A), Motherwell (H), and St Mirren (H), and likely the match against Celtic (A).

Hearts to Miss Rising Star

Heart of Midlothian, the Premiership leaders, will be missing just one player, but he has been starting to have more of an impact in recent weeks:

• Pierre Landry Kabore (Burkina Faso): The 24-year-old, signed from Estonian club Narva Trans in August, has found his feet at Tynecastle since scoring a hat-trick in Burkina Faso’s 3-1 World Cup qualifying win over Ethiopia in October. He followed that with a double in Hearts’ win over Dundee. Although not yet an automatic starter, he will be a much-missed option for head coach Derek McInnes.

Kabore will definitely miss games against Rangers (H) and Hibernian (A), and likely the match against Livingston (H).

Motherwell Lose Top Scorer

Motherwell‘s loss is perhaps the greatest in terms of impact, as they will be without the joint top scorer in the Premiership so far this season:

• Tawanda Maswanhise (Zimbabwe): The 23-year-old, who signed in August 2024 after being released by Leicester City, has scored eight top-flight goals this season. His influence, whether playing wide or through the middle, will be sorely missed while he adds to his 14 caps for Zimbabwe.

Maswanhise will definitely be missing for games against Dundee (H), Rangers (A), and Celtic (H), and likely the match against St Mirren (H).

Championship Clubs Also Affected

St Johnstone, who lead the Championship by three points, will be without one of their most experienced players:

• Uche Ikpeazu (Uganda): The Harrow-born 30-year-old striker has struggled for game time since returning to Scotland. A cult hero in his two seasons with Hearts, he headed off to England in 2020 and returned via Port Vale in the summer but only three of his 23 appearances have been starts, scoring four goals. He will be hoping to add to his three Uganda caps, assuming he is not one of the two to be dropped from the provisional squad.

Ikpeazu will miss games against Hearts B (A – Challenge Cup), Greenock Morton (H), and Ross County (A), and likely the match against Arbroath (H).

Dunfermline Athletic have had the rare distinction for Scotland’s second tier of having games called off this season because of their number of international call-ups. They will also be without one player making a name for himself at senior level:

• Alfons Amade (Mozambique): The 26-year-old has been in and out of Neil Lennon’s starting line-up since arriving at East End Park from Septemvri Sofia this summer. He has made 13 appearances for Mozambique since switching allegiances last year, including starts in a recent World Cup qualifying win over Somalia and a narrow defeat by this year’s Afcon hosts, Morocco.

Amade will definitely miss games against Queen of the South (A – Challenge Cup), Ayr United (H), and Raith Rovers (A), and likely the match against Ross County (H).

Group Stage Prospects

The chances of the SPFL’s contingent making an extended stay in Morocco depend on how far their national teams progress in the competition. The group stage ends between 29-31 December, with the last-16 taking place on 3-5 January, the quarter-finals on 9/10 January, the semi-finals on 14 January, the third-place play-off on 17 January, and the final on 18 January.

Here’s a look at the groups and the prospects for the SPFL players:

• Group A: Chaiwa’s Zambia (ranked 90th in the world) are in the same group as Morocco (11th), Mali (52nd), and Comoros (108th).
• Group B: Maswanhise’s Zimbabwe (129th) face an uphill task to avoid finishing bottom of a section including Egypt (34th), South Africa (61st), and Angola (89th).
• Group C: Nigeria (38th) and Tounekti’s Tunisia (40th) should be vying for top spot, while Uganda (85th) containing Obita and Ikpeazu are left fighting it out for third with Tanzania (112th).
• Group D: Bushiri and Balikwisha’s DR Congo (56th) will be second favourites for their group containing Senegal (19th), Benin (92nd), and Botswana (138th).
• Group E: Djiga and Kabore’s Burkina Faso (62nd) are also second favourites for their section behind Algeria (35th) and ahead of Equatorial Guinea (97th) and Sudan (118th).
• Group F: Amade’s Mozambique (102nd) are the lowest ranked in their group behind holders Ivory Coast (42nd), Cameroon (57th), and Gabon (78th).

The return of these players to the SPFL will depend on how far their national teams progress in the tournament.