The 2025 edition of the Africa Cup of Nations kicks off on the 21st of December, and several Bundesliga sides are set to lose players following the conclusion of this matchday.
Bayer Leverkusen will be the team most affected by AFCON, especially due to the departure of Ibrahim Maza, who is growing in importance game by game. While the absences of Christian Kofane and Edmond Tapsoba will also be big misses, Leverkusen have adequate replacements for both.
Both Stuttgart and RB Leipzig will miss key players. Bilal El Khannouss has been one of the standouts for Stuttgart in the first half of the season and has carried the attacking burden at times. While Yan Diomande continues to develop into a potential superstar as he gets better and better with Leipzig. For Leipzig, they can rely on fellow summer signing Johan Bakayoko to fill in for the Ivorian.
Unlike other leagues, the Bundesliga has a winter break. This means the players who have been called up will only miss a handful of Bundesliga games.
Every Bundesliga player leaving for AFCON:
Bayern Munich: Nicolas Jackson (Senegal)
RB Leipzig: Yan Diomande (Ivory Coast), Amadou Haidara (Mali)
Borussia Dortmund: Ramy Bensebaini (Algeria)
Bayer Leverkusen: Ibrahim Maza (Algeria), Christian Kofane (Cameroon), Edmond Tapsoba (Burkina Faso), Eliesse Ben Seghir (Morocco)
Hoffenheim: Bazoumana Touré (Ivory Coast)
Stuttgart: Bilal El Khannouss (Morocco)
Frankfurt: Fares Chaïbi (Algeria), Ellyes Skhiri (Tunisia)
1.FC Köln: N/A
Freiburg: Cyriaque Irie (Burkina Faso)
Borussia Mönchengladbach: N/A
Werder Bremen: N/A
Union Berlin: N/A
Hamburger SV: N/A
Augsburg: Samuel Essende (DR Congo), Elias Saad (Tunisia), Ismaël Gharbi (Tunisia)
Wolfsburg: Mohamed Amoura (Algeria)
Heidenheim: N/A
St.Pauli: Andreas Hountondji (Benin)
Mainz: N/A
GGFN | Jack Meenan
