As the African Cup of Nations kicks off, there's a heavily penalized Serie A team

The Africa Cup of Nations 2026 is just around the corner. It starts on Sunday, December 21. Final scheduled for January 18, 2026. For many European clubs, the Africa Cup of Nations means losing several players, some of them very important (think of Liverpool’s Momo Salah). Even Serie A has had to “give up” several elements.

Fabrizio Ponciroli

In total, assuming that Como’s Senegalese Assane Diao recovers from the injury suffered at the’Olimpico against Roma, there are 21 “Italians” who have said goodbye to Serie A to go play the African Cup of Nations with their respective national teams.

All in all, there are as many as 21 players “chosen” in Serie A (to which must be added four from the Serie cadetta, one from the C and also Faisan Bangal, Mozambique national team and player of Mestre in Serie D). Lecce is the team in Italy’s top league most penalized with as many as three players leaving the club to fly to Morocco, namely Lameck Banda (Zambia), Lassana Coulibaly (Mali) and Kialonda Gaspar (Angola). In particular, it is hard for Eusebio Di Francesco, coach of the Salentini, to lose the Gaspar-Coulibaly duo. The two players are starters in his Lecce team.