This international break saw the final qualifiers take place for January’s African Cup of Nations finals tournament, completing the list of the 24 nations who will travel to Ivory Coast next January, with dozens of French-based players set to take part.

The final round of qualifiers saw the 48 remaining teams divided into 12 groups of four teams, with the top two nations qualifying for the 2024 finals after a home and away round-robin format. The 24 countries to make the finals are:

Nigeria, Guinea-Bissau, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cameroon, Namibia, Egypt, Guinea, Ghana, Angola, Algeria, Tanzania, Mali, Gambia, Zambia, Ivory Coast, DR Congo, Mauritania, Tunisia, Equatorial Guinea, South Africa, Morocco, Senegal, Mozambique

Even without Marseille’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Gabon were perhaps the most disappointed of all the countries to miss out, while the surprise package of the previous tournament in Cameroon, Comoros, who only exited to the hosts in the last 16, also missed out. The finals will take place between January 13th and February 11th, 2024, meaning the likes of goalkeeper Andre Onana of Manchester United, Napoli striker Victor Osimhen, and Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah will miss several weeks of club action this winter after the tournament was moved from summer 2023 back to its regular January slot.