The young stars you should be watching at Africa Cup of Nations

The Africa Cup of Nations is the most consistently entertaining international football tournament for my money’s worth. The young talent on display certainly is one of the reasons behind that. It was tough to cut this list down to any kind of reasonable length, but we’ve picked out 6 players from different countries that you should be keeping an eye on during the competition.

Lamine Camara (CM, 2004, AS Monaco) 🇸🇳 

Lamine Camara is no stranger to AFCON as he broke into then-defending champions Senegal’s XI in the last edition. Although his side’s run was cut short in the Round of 16 by eventual winners Ivory Coast, the teenager certainly impressed with his performances in midfield.

He made a €15 million move from Metz to Monaco the subsequent summer and has continued to go from strength to strength, firmly establishing himself as a regular starter. He was an excellent all-action midfielder last season, showcasing encouraging on-ball qualities, providing good passing value and offering tireless defensive work to boot. This term, he has sharpened his creative edge as well.

The Génération Foot academy graduate has occasionally been linked with a move to an elite-level European club over the last year or so, but his relatively smaller stature poses a question that they all must be pondering. For Senegal, though, that should not be much of an issue since they tend to partner him with two more solid and secure midfielders, asking Camara to showcase the best of his on-ball abilities.

Eliesse Ben Seghir (AM/LW, 2005, Bayer Leverkusen) 🇲🇦 

Hosts Morocco are widely regarded as the clear favourites going into this AFCON, but they haven’t won the title since 1976 and haven’t even made it past a quarter-final after 2004. Of course, they made history in the 2022 World Cup with their run to the semi-final, but they couldn’t get past the Round of 16 at the following AFCON.

Like most African powerhouses, Walid Regragui’s side have to somewhat shift their style of play depending on what stage they are playing in. Morocco’s success in Qatar was built on their incredible defensive discipline, but in the Ivory Coast, it was their lack of an attacking edge that cost them. Their right-sided bias was a part of the issue as they often funneled their attacks around Achraf Hakimi and Azzedine Ounahi, but didn’t have anyone to reliably take advantage on the other flank.

Enter Eliesse Ben Seghir. The French-born talent featured in half of Morocco’s recent World Cup qualifying matches both as a left winger and on the left of midfield in their 4-3-3, offering an on-ball threat through his dribbling as well as key passes.

Ben Seghir isn’t a guaranteed starter for the Atlas Lions but will likely get a good opportunity to make a case for himself. A super substitute role would certainly suit his qualities too as he has the potential to be an electric dribbler, with dazzling footwork and quick movement coming inside to go with powerful ball-striking with his right foot.

The young attacker has seen precious little game time after moving from Monaco to Leverkusen in the summer, so this could be a pivotal tournament for his season.

Dorgeles Nene (LW/RW, 2002, Fenerbahçe) 🇲🇱 

The standout name among Mali’s collection of young attackers and midfielders in their AFCON squad is Dorgeles Nene.

The young winger mostly came on as a substitute at the last edition of the tournament, notably scoring the opener in the quarter-final against the Ivory Coast, who would go on to win in extra time. This time around, he will hope to be a starter for the Eagles after breaking through on the club scene in Europe.

Dorgeles’ career path so far has been quite interesting. Like a fair few of his international teammates, he came through the JMG Academy in Bamako before moving to RB Salzburg. Like most youngsters, he was initially sent to the second team but then quickly went on a couple of loans to Ried and Westerlo before breaking into the senior squad.

He starred in the Austrian Bundesliga last term with 13 goals and four assists, earning a move to Fenerbahçe for 15m plus bonuses. The Turkish side have switched him over to the right wing, thus getting a lot more creative output from the right-footer at the expense of much of his goal-threat.

Either way, Dorgeles’ core strength certainly lies in his dribbling. He likes to come inside and is very quick to change directions and/or speed as he bursts through gaps between opposition defenders with the ball, showcasing good positional awareness and making himself very hard to track. Although he isn’t quite as stockily built, he’s got a bit of Jérémy Doku about his dribbling, so Mali will hope to see something of an explosion from Dorgeles in Morocco.

Yan Diomande (RW, 2006, RB Leipzig) 🇨🇮 

Defending champions the Ivory Coast won the title in an unbelievable fashion on home soil last year, changing coaches mid-tournament and fighting back from deficits thrice in the knockouts, including in the final. Now-permanent head coach Emerse Faé has already made some more bold calls for this edition of the tournament, most notably leaving Nicolas Pépé and Simon Adingra out of the squad.

Instead, Yan Diomande is among those making their major tournament debut at this AFCON, just a couple of months after getting his first senior international cap. He might even get a starting spot on the back of some excellent showings for RB Leipzig, for whom he has hit the ground running following a summer transfer.

The teenager already has more than just sensational dribbling ability, having displayed handy attacking output from both flanks. Our very own Mohamed Mohamed took a close look at his abilities and potential in a recent newsletter, which covers all you’ll need to know before watching him.

Farès Chaïbi (CM, 2002, Eintracht Frankfurt) 🇩🇿 

Perhaps the most interesting profile on this list is Farès Chaïbi. The Algerian midfielder currently sits joint-second in the Bundesliga assists list, with his tally of six exceeded only by Bayern Munich’s Michael Olise.

He has played all across midfield and occasionally even started on the wing for a very interesting Eintracht Frankfurt side, who give him full license to roam around and link up with his teammates. The result is this unique statistical profile:

Chaïbi’s pass completion rate of 72.6% is the fifth-lowest among midfielders in the Bundesliga this season because he certainly doesn’t mind trying low-probability passes, but it is his constant off-ball movement that contributes to his potency the most. He pops up to receive the ball absolutely all over the park, as his touchmap shows:

Vladimir Petković might well go for a more conservative option as his first priority will be to ensure that Algeria avoid crashing out of the group stage for a third consecutive AFCON, but Chaïbi could well be the man the Fennecs turn to if they need a spark of dynamism on the pitch.

Cyriaque Irié (LW/RW, 2005, SC Freiburg) 🇧🇫 

Burkina Faso have one well-known young winger in Dango Ouattara, but his partner on the other flank may well be someone who uses this tournament to really make a name for himself.

Cyriaque Irié enjoyed a breakout 2024/25 campaign for Ligue 2 outfit Troyes, hitting double-digits in terms of goal involvements across all competitions. A left-footer capable of playing on either flank, he was more often deployed on the right and posed an impressive all-round threat.

The young winger showed consistent glimpses of smart movement, pairing it with a very impressive 2.7 successful take-ons per 90 at a 65% success rate. He also used his well-built frame very well in both ground and aerial duels, ranking above the 90th percentile in the league in all aforementioned metrics.

These impressive performances earned Irié his senior international debut earlier this year, soon followed by a transfer to Freiburg for a reported fee of around €10m. However, he has only made one appearance in Germany so far due to a case of malaria, which has kept him out of action for three months.

Irié only recently completed his recovery and returned to the matchday squad last week, but did not step onto the pitch before jetting off for AFCON. As a result, it is difficult to say just how much game time he will get in Morocco, but he will surely be raring to get back out there and wreck some defences.

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