AFCON 2023: Which Championship, League One and League Two players could be heading to the Ivory Coast?

Based on players who have already earned senior international caps for their respective nations, up to 28 players from the Sky Bet EFL could be heading to AFCON in January; tournament takes place in the Ivory Coast from January 13 to February 11

Digital football journalist @DanLong__

Wednesday 22 November 2023 12:28, UK

The 2023 Africa Cup of Nations starts on Saturday January 13, when hosts Ivory Coast take on Guinea-Bissau in Abidjan.

The 34th edition of the tournament will last two days short of a month and end where it began — at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium — on Sunday February 11.

In February 2022, Sadio Mane put an early penalty miss behind him to score the winning spot-kick as Senegal won the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time following a 4-2 penalty shootout victory.

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced in September that teams must submit their final squad lists by the deadline of January 3, 10 days before the opening match of the tournament.

Taking into account players who have already represented their respective nations on the international stage — and those who have recently been called up for the first time — as many as 28 players from clubs who play in the Sky Bet Championship, League One and League Two could be absent from domestic football at the start of the year.

So who are they? Here, we take a look...

Leicester's Kelechi Iheanacho is likely to be a key player for Nigeria at AFCON. The 27-year-old has started the Championship season well, with eight goals for club and country in 21 games, including one in the 1-1 draw with Zimbabwe on November 19. His 15th international goal makes him the nation's 10th-highest scorer of all time; he needs just seven more to move second —