France’s Ligue 1 is the league with the most players at the Africa Cup of Nations finals. Still, South Africa’s Betway Premiership also has a healthy representation at the tournament in Morocco, which gets underway on Sunday. Catch all the action LIVE on SuperSport.
With 50 players called up, Ligue 1 will be the most represented league at the tournament, including nine Senegalese players, the nation with the most representatives. The gap with the second-ranked league is substantial, with 32 players from the Premier League.
The top-ranked African leagues come in next with the Egyptian Premier League giving up 31 players and 28 from South Africa, 25 from
Tanzania and 21 from Botswana.
Then it is Serie A and the Turkish Super League, each contributing 21 players. There are 18 from the Bundesliga and 17 from Sudan,
Excluding leagues from the African continent, Europe monopolises, but there are 16 players from the Saudi league and 12 from Qatar.
---- NIGERIA ONLY ----
AFRICAN CLUBS DOMINATE
Unsurprisingly, the most represented clubs all come from Africa, such as Al Hilal (Sudan), Al Ahly (Egypt) and Orlando Pirates. With six players called up, Sunderland, the surprise package of the early Premier League season, is the most represented non-African club at the tournament in Morocco. Two Ligue 1 teams, Paris FC and Lorient, have five players.
In total, more than 70 players based in France, from Ligue 1 to the fifth division, will compete in the international tournament.