Africa Cup of Nations: How will the Bundesliga be impacted?

With 24 Bundesliga players included in their respective countries' provisional squads for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Ivory Coast from January 13 until February 11, 2024, several of Germany's top sides are facing a month without some top performers.

Final AFCON squads of between 24-27 players are not due to be confirmed until January 3, so there's no guarantee that all 24 players will make the cut – but the final number is still likely to be higher than the 11 Bundesliga players who featured at AFCON 2022 in Cameroon.

Simultaneously, a further eight Japanese and South Korean Bundesliga players could be missing as they compete in the Asia Cup in Qatar (January 12 until February 10).

DW looks at which Bundesliga clubs will have the most players on international duty in the new year and the impact it might have on their respective seasons.

Leverkusen set to lose five players

Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen are set to be hardest hit by the Africa Cup of Nations, if only in terms of sheer numbers.

With Victor Boniface (Nigeria), Edmond Tapsoba (Burkina Faso), Odilon Kossounou (Ivory Coast) and Amine Adli (Morocco) all likely to make their countries' final squads, and youngster Nathan Tella (Nigeria) also in with a chance, Xabi Alonso's team could be missing up to five key players.

Nigerian striker Boniface played an integral role in the Werkself's almost perfect start to the season with 16 goals in all competitions so far. And Tapsoba and Kossounou have been almost permanent fixtures in a back-three that has only conceded 12 goals all season.

An away trip to RB Leipzig on January 20 will pose the first real challenge but Alonso may be able to count on one or two players being back for the German Cup quarterfinal against Stuttgart on February 6.

On February 10 — the day before the AFCON final — all eyes will be on Leverkusen's match with visiting Bayern Munich.

Back in January 2022, Leverkusen didn't suffer at all from the absence of Tapsoba and Kossounou, drawing with Union Berlin (2-2) before beating Borussia Mönchengladbach (2-1), Augsburg (5-1) and Borussia Dortmund (5-2). And despite five potential absentees this time, the Bundesliga leaders look well-prepared.

In a dress rehearsal for January, Alonso voluntarily left his AFCON contingent on the bench Wednesday against Bochum and still oversaw a 4-0 win thanks to a hat trick from returning Czech striker Patrik Schick in his first start in almost a year. Perfect timing.

Stuttgart and goal-machine Guirassy

The Bundesliga's second surprise package this season has been VfB Stuttgart, who largely have Serhou Guirassy's 17 goals to thank for their current third-place position.

But with the 27-year-old likely to be leading the line for Guinea at AFCON and back-up striker Silas (three goals and three assists) set to join up with DR Congo, Stuttgart will likely look to Deniz Undav (nine goals) and winger Chris Führich (five goals, five assists) for inspiration.

Complicating matters even further for Sebastian Hoeness' team is the Asian Cup, with left-back Hiroki Ito and midfielder Genki Haraguchi likely to be traveling to Qatar with Japan, and Jeong Woo-yeong likely to be selected for South Korea.

Like Leverkusen, a January meeting with RB Leipzig looks like the first big test for Stuttgart before that German Cup quarterfinal at the BayArena on February 6.

Frankfurt's North African connection

Eintracht Frankfurt's African contingent is more specifically a North African one — and it's a productive one, at that.

Between them, speedy Egyptian striker Omar Marmoush and Algerian midfielder Fares Chaibi have scored or assisted 14 of the Eagles' 26 Bundesliga goals so far this season, while Tunisian defensive midfielder Ellyes Skhiri has scored two more himself.

In Frankfurt's 5-1 thumping of Bayern Munich in December, Chaibi set up Marmoush's opener but the fact that Frankfurt's non-African players stepped up to score the other four will give head coach Dino Toppmöller confidence that his squad can compensate for its AFCON absentees.

Frankfurt also face a tricky January trip to RB Leipzig, but subsequent fixtures against strugglers Darmstadt, Mainz, Köln and Bochum look manageable.

Toppmöller will also have his AFCON contingent back for the UEFA Europa Conference League playoff games against Belgian side Union Saint-Gilloise in February.

Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and the rest

At perennial champions Bayern Munich, Bouna Sarr hasn't even made Senegal's provisional squad, defender Noussair Mazraoui is battling to be fit enough to play for Morocco and Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting's presence at AFCON is far from certain after he missed games for Cameroon in October.

Borussia Dortmund look set to be without Ramy Bensebaini (Algeria) and striker Sebastien Haller (Ivory Coast) but, given the pair's form in the first half of the season, neither would be considered irreplaceable losses for what on paper looks like a manageable fixture list: Darmstadt (a), Köln (a), Bochum (h), Heidenheim (a), Freiburg (h).

Elsewhere, Werder Bremen will be hoping that Naby Keita can use his time with the Guinean national team to regain match fitness and return for a more successful second half of the season after barely featuring so far due to injury and illness.

Hoffenheim should be able to compensate for the loss of Kevin Akpoguma and Diadie Samassekou if either is called up by Nigeria or Mali respectively, as should Mainz without Moroccan midfield substitute Aymen Barkok.

David Datro Fofana could be a loss for Union Berlin, though. After scoring against Napoli and Köln in the last two months, the Ivorian striker offers a potential glimmer of hope for the side fighting relegation.

Edited by: Jonathan Harding