Youngest Players in 2021 Africa Cup of Nations

Without the energy and enthusiasm of younger players, football will definitely be a boring game. The African continent had some great footballers during its history in football, introducing some fine youngsters to the world of football and especially the European clubs. There are many great examples for this, with the most prominent ones including Samuel Eto'o, Didier Drogba and many others.

On the occasion of the 2021 African Cup of Nations, which was played for almost a month in Cameroon and which finished with Senegal clinching the title, we have decided to introduce the youngest footballers who took part in the 33rd edition of the African Cup of Nations this year.

Youngest AFCON 2021 Players

To gather this list of youngest players in the 2021

, we have selected players with the youngest age on the day of their first appearance in the competition. Stay tuned to get to know some of the finest African talents, including the 5 youngest players at AFCON 2021 in the following.

Abdoul Tapsoba – Burkina Faso - 20 years 04 months 17 days

Abdoul Tapsoba is the first player from Burkina Faso to appear in our list of youngest players in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations. The 20 years old striker who currently plays for the Belgian giants Standard Liege proved to be an important player for his national team despite his young age. He featured in a total of five matches for his country in the 2021 African Cup Nations.

In Burkina Faso's starting match in the tournament, which was played against the host nation

, Abdoul Tapsoba was in the starting lineup as his team's centre forward, but after failing to score a goal while Burkina Faso was down 2-1 against Cameroon, the coach decided to replace him with Mohamed Konaté in the 71st minute of the match. In the second group stage match against

, the situation was no different as he started the match, only to be replaced by Zakaria Sanogo in the 69th minute.

For the last group stage match, the coach, not happy with his first two performances, decided to put him on the bench for the whole duration of the match. After making it to the next round with four points in their group, Burkina Faso had to play against Gabon in the round of 16. Once again, Tapsoba started the match on the bench, only to come into the pitch on the 89th minute for Dango Ouattara when the score sheet was showing 0-0.

As a right-winger, he played the two extra times for his team. After both teams were unable to score a goal, the fate of the match had to be decided in the penalty shootouts. The shootouts ended in an 8-7 victory for the

team, although Abdoul Tapsoba missed his penalty kick. In the quarterfinal against Tunisia, which finished in a 1-0 win for them, Tapsoba was again on the bench for the whole match duration.

For the semifinal, Abdoul and his teammates had to face the strong Senegalese national team of Sadio Mane. That match ended in a 1-3 defeat for the Burkina Faso national team, as they were unable to play a good game against the future champions of the tournament. In that match, Tapsoba only played 9 minutes as a substitute for Hassane Bandé.

In the third-place playoff match against Cameroon, Abdoul Tapsoba once again was in the starting lineup as a left-winger of his team. Burkina Faso started the match well and managed to score three goals until the 49th minute of the match. While it seemed the match was over for Cameroon, the Indomitable Lions were able to turn things around and score three goals in the space of 16 minutes. In the 87th minute, Tapsoba was replaced by Eric Traoré. Burkina Faso, in the end, lost the match to Cameroon on penalties.

El Bilal Touré – Mali - 20 years 03 months 09 days

TheThe young Malian striker who came to the tournament as one of the young talents of the Mali national team, did not have a good tournament at the 2021 African Cup of Nations. In the first group stage match against

on 12 January 2022, El Bilal started the game on the bench, only to enter the pitch as a replacement for Moussa Djenepo in the 81st minute. However, only six minutes later, he was shown a red card for a serious foul and was sent off the pitch. Mali won the match 1-0.

For that foul, he received a two-match suspension and thus missed the next two group stage matches of the Malian national team against the

and Mauritania. With two wins and a draw, Mali made it to the knockout stage of the tournament. In the round of 16, Mali faced

. Having started the match on the bench, Toure entered the pitch in the 84th minute, but was unable to help the team win the match. After penalties, Mali was knocked out, losing 6-5.

Born in Côte d'Ivoire to Malian parents, El Bilal Touré first played at the Ivory Academy FC. When he was 15 years old, he went to Mali to continue his training at the Afrique Football Elite center. Toure signed for Stade de Reims on 3 January, 2020 on a five-year contract. On 1 February 2020, Toure debuted as a professional in a Ligue 1 match against SCO d'Angers.

His first goal was scored that day, contributing to the team's 4-1 victory. The following 16 February, he scored the only goal of the game in a league match against Stade Rennais. On 7 March, he scored the only goal of the game in a league match against Stade Brestois 29 to give the Stade de Reims a victory.

During the first match of the 2020-21 season at the Stade Louis-II of AS Monaco, he scored a goal and provided an assist, but the two teams ended in a draw (2-2). Just before the new season in the summer of 2021, El Bilal Touré decided to leave the club, but Stade de Reims kept him, as they were counting on him after Boulaye Dia's departure to Villarreal CF. He eventually returned to training and to the Reims squad at the beginning of August.

He took part in the African Cup of Nations for the under-20s in 2019. He was the first-choice player in this competition organized in Niger, and played in all five of his team's matches. He made a name for himself in the group stage, with an assist against Burkina Faso. The Malians won the tournament by defeating Senegal in the final, following a penalty shootout.

As a result of his performances during the tournament, Toure was named to the team of the tournament. Thereafter, with the Under 23 team, he competed in the African Cup of Nations for Under 23s at the end of 2019. Toure played three games in the competition held in

, which resulted in three defeats. As one of the most talented players of this tournament, while he did not end up in the list of top 10 best players in Africa 2021, but we are going to hear more about him in the future editions of the African Cup of Nations.

Omar Rekik – Tunisia - 20 years 27 days

This youngster is one of the super talents in our list of youngest players in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, who, with just 20 years of age, was just signed by the English giants Arsenal and there is a bright future ahead of him, according to many football fans and experts. He was part of the Tunisian national team in his first major international tournament 2021 African Cup of Nations, alongside other top talent Hannibal Mejbri, who played for another top English club Manchester United. While he was not amongst the best players at AFCON 2022, but in the future editions, we are going to hear more about him.

After sitting on his team's bench during the first group stage match against the Malian national team, Omar Rekik made his debut in the 2021 African Cup of Nations when he entered the pitch as a replacement for Bilel Ifa in the 81st minute of the second group stage match against

which finished in a good 4-0 win. In the third group stage match against the Gambia, once again, Omar Rekik had to sit on the bench for the whole duration of the match.

With just one win and two defeats in three group stage matches, the Tunisian national team made it to the next round of the competition as one of the best third-placed teams. In round of 16, they faced the Nigerian national team. During that match, Omar Rekik came in the 89th minute of the match to replace Anis Slimane. Against all odds, Tunisia managed to eliminate the Super Eagles with a score of 1-0. In the quarterfinal, however, Tunisians lost 1-0 to Burkina Faso and were out of the competition. Omar Rekik did not feature in that match.

Omar Rekik was a member of several major European club academies during his youth, accompanying his older brother Karim to Feyenoord, Manchester City, PSV and Marseille, before eventually joining Bundesliga side Hertha Berlin in 2017. But their careers finally came to a standstill in the 2020-2021 season, with Omar transferring to Arsenal in January 2021. In contrast, Karim, who had already been a professional player for some ten years, moved to the Spanish side Sevilla a few months earlier.

Although his brother Karim is a current Dutch international player, Omar Rekik received his first call-up to the Tunisian national team with the Under-21s in October 2018, at the age of 16, before moving on to the Dutch Under-18 team a month later. Nevertheless, Omar Rekik ultimately decided to play for the Tunisian national team in May 2021, when he was selected by Mondher Kebaier with other young players from abroad such as Hannibal Mejbri, Sebastian Tounekti and Ali Youssef. His senior international debut for Tunisia came on 15 June 2021, when he played in the midfield of the 1-0 friendly win over

.

Kamaldeen Sulemana – Ghana - 19 years 10 months 26 days

This is just another player in this list of youngest players in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations that despite his young age of 19 years old, was one of the key players of his national team during the tournament in Cameroon. The talented Ghanaian left-winger who at the moment plays for the French club Stade Rennais in Ligue 1 is considered by many football fans and experts to be one of the greatest prospects of Ghanaian football and in the coming years we are going to hear more about them.

Kamaldeen Sulemana debuted in the 2021 African Cup of Nations on 10 January 2022, in their opening match of the tournament against Morocco. He started the match as his team's left-winger and was substituted by Daniel-Kofi Kyereh in the 86th minute of the match that ended in a 1-0 defeat for the Ghanaian national team.

In the second group stage match against

, he was once again in the starting lineup as a left-winger, but this time he was replaced by Edmund Addo in the 61st minute of the match. The match finished in a 1-1 draw for them, thus they collected their first point in the tournament. In the third group stage match which finished in a 3-2 defeat for them, Sulemana was again in the starting lineup and this time played only 60 minutes. With these results, Ghana was knocked out of the tournament very early.

In Ghana, Sulemana started to play for the Right to Dream Academy, from where he was picked up by FC Nordsjælland in January 2020. His debut was made on 23 February 2020, at home against SønderjyskE. The coach, Flemming Pedersen, put Sulemana on the bench and he was substituted for Mohammed Diomande 16 minutes after the break. The first professional goal followed on 29 May of that year, against Silkeborg IF. During the summer of 2021, Sulemana transferred to Stade Rennes for a fee of around €15 million, signing a five-year deal.

Sulemana played his first match for the Ghana football team in October 2020, in a friendly match against Mali that they lost 3-0. National coach James Kwesi Appiah asked Sulemana to start on the bench and he was substituted for Eugene Ansah at the break. The other first-timers in this game were Tarique Fosu-Henry (Brentford), Alexander Djiku (RC Strasbourg) and Eugene Ansah (Hapoel Ironi Kiryat-Shmona). As one of the most talented players of this tournament, while he did not end up in the list of top 10 best players in Africa 2021, but we are going to hear more about him in the future editions of the African Cup of Nations.

Saïdou Sow – Guinea - 19 years 06 months 06 days

The first footballer from the Guinea national team to appear in our list of youngest players in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations is the 19 years old Saïdou Sow who plays as a central defender for the AS Saint-Étienne club in France and also for the Guinean national football team. He was selected by coach Kaba Diawara in January 2022 to play in the 2021 African Cup of Nations in Cameroon, and unlike other footballers present on this list, was one of the key players for the Guinean national team.

He made his 2021 African Cup of Nations debut on 10 January 2022 in the first group stage match against

. He started the match as a central defender alongside Mohamed Camara and Ibrahima Conte, before being replaced by Ousmane Kanté in the 71st minute of the match that ended in a 1-0 win for them. In the second match against

, he was again in the starting lineup and this time played the full 90 minutes.

In the third group stage match of the Guinea national team, Saïdou Sow was on the bench. After making it to the knockout stage of the tournament, Saïdou Sow and his teammates had to face the Gambia in the round of 16. Saïdou Sow played the full match there, but was unable to prevent his team from losing 1-0 and getting eliminated from the 2021 African Cup of Nations tournament.

Saïdou Sow is a product of AS Saint-Étienne, where he joined in 2016 from SFC Neuilly-sur-Marne. He progressed from U15 to U19 and trained with the first team without going through the reserves. He signed his first professional contract on 30 September 2020. His first professional game was on 3 October 2020 in a Ligue 1 match against RC Lens at Stade Bollaert-Delelis. Saïdou Sow made his first start the following matchday against OGC Nice in the league on 18 October. In May 2021 he renewed his contract with AS Saint-Étienne until June 2023.

In September 2020, Saïdou Sow received his first call-up from Didier Six, the coach of the Guinean national team. Sow made his first appearance for Guinea on 10 October 2020 against Cape Verde. He entered the game in the 55th minute, and was instrumental in Guinea's victory by providing an assist to Yady Bangoura for the 2-1 goal. As one of the most talented players of this tournament, while he did not end up in the list of top 10 best players in Africa 2021, but we are going to hear more about him in the future editions of the African Cup of Nations.

Pape Sarr – Senegal - 19 years 04 months 19 days

The only player from the champions of the tournament to appear in this list of youngest players in 2021 Africa Cup of Nations is Pape Sarr, the talented of the Tottenham Hotspur team who currently plays on loan for Metz and also for the Senegal national team which was AFCON best team 2022. His team was the best African national teams rankings 2021.

In the 2021 African Cup of Nations, having missed the first group stage match since he was out because of testing positive for Covid-19, he was sitting on the bench for the next four matches of the Senegal national team. While he was not amongst the best players at AFCON 2022, but in the future editions, we are going to hear more about him.

At the semifinal, where Senegal had to face Burkina Faso national team, Senegalese national team scored two goals in the 70th and 76th minute of the match and it was just two minutes after the second goal that coach Aliou Cisse decided to send Pape Sarr in to replace Bamba Dieng. In that match which finished in a 3-1 win for Senegal, he played for 12 minutes, which was his only appearance in the tournament, as he was not again used in the final match against Egypt.

He was brought up in the youth academy of Génération Foot, Metz's partner club, and in 2020 he was signed by French club Metz, with which he agreed on a deal until 2025. His debut in the first team was made on 29 November 2020, replacing Mamadou Fofana in the 55th minute of the Ligue 1 match lost 2-0 against Brest.

He scored his first goal for the team on 31 January 2021, scoring against Brest. Over the course of the season, despite his young age, he was one of the pillars of Metz's midfield, turning out to be one of the team's best players at the end of the season.

Due to his outstanding performances, in the summer of 2021, Sarr attracted the interest of several Premier League clubs, -

, Manchester United and Manchester City - eventually, he transferred to Tottenham on 27 August 2021, for a fee of €20 million-plus bonuses, which made him the most expensive transfer in Metz history, beating Ismaïla Sarr's previous record. Under the agreement between Metz and Tottenham, Sarr remains at the French club until the end of the season.

Pape Sarr took part in the 2019 African Cup of Nations with Senegal U-17, where he was unable to make it past the group stage, and in the World Cup, in which he scored three goals in as many matches played. He received his first call-up with the senior national team on 17 March 2021 in view of the two matches against the Rep. of Congo and Eswatini, valid for the qualification for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations. Pape Sarr debuted on 26 March, playing as a starter in the 0-0 draw against the Rep. of Congo. Stay tuned for the 5 youngest players at AFCON 2021.

Al-Gozoli Nooh – Sudan - 19 years 02 months 18 days

The next footballer in our list of youngest players in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations is from Sudan. The young striker was part of the Sudanese national team that participated in the 2021 African Cup of Nations on Group D alongside the likes of Guinea-Bissau, Egypt and Nigeria, which took part in Cameroon between 9 January and 6 February 2022.

Al-Gozoli Nooh made his African Cup of Nations debut at the age of 19 years 02 months 18 days on 11 January 2022, when he came in to the pitch to replace Yasin Hamed in the 67th minute of the Sudan and Guinea-Bissau match which finished in a goalless draw. In Sudan's second match against Nigeria, the coach decided to give Al-Gozoli Nooh more playing time, as he brought him into the pitch at the start of the second half to replace Musab Eisa. That match finished in a 3-1 defeat for Sudan.

In the last group stage match of Sudan in Group D, they suffered a 1-0 defeat against Egypt, which meant they had to say goodbye to the 2021 African Cup of Nations with only one point in three matches. Al-Gozoli Nooh was on the bench during that match and did not play.

Being a member of the Sudanese Al-Merrikh Sporting Club, he played in the Sudanese first division; during his career he played a total of 7 matches in the CAF Champions League. Al-Gozoli Nooh made his debut with the Sudanese national team on 11 June 2021 in the friendly match against Zambia, winning 3-2. He was included in the final squad list for the 2021 African Cup of Nations in January 2022. Stay tuned for the 5 youngest players at AFCON 2021.

Ilaix Moriba – Guinea - 18 years 11 months 26 days

The next player in our list of youngest players in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations is another top young talent raised in European football and one of the best academies, namely the La Masia of FC Barcelona. Ilaix Moriba, who is currently playing on loan for Valencia in La Liga, is considered by many football experts to be a great replacement for Naby Keita in the Guinean national football team. While he was not amongst the best players at AFCON 2022, but in the future editions, we are going to hear more about him.

During the group stage of the 2021 African Cup of Nations, which was Ilaix Moriba's first major international tournament, Guinea won against Malawi (1-0), drew 0-0 against Senegal and lost 2-1 against Zimbabwe. The second-placed Guinea advanced to the round of 16, where the Gambia defeated them 0-1. Moriba played against Senegal, Zimbabwe and Gambia.

Moriba started his football in Espanyol's youth team in 2008 and joined FC Barcelona's youth academy in 2010. There he frequently played in higher age groups. For example, at 15, he scored three goals against Real Madrid under-19. In January 2019, the midfielder signed a professional contract, with a fixed release clause of 100 million euros.

Moriba made his breakthrough with FC Barcelona B in the 2019/20 season. His first-team debut followed in January 2021, when he was allowed to make a starting appearance against UE Cornellà in the Copa del Rey. Moriba was substituted by coach Ronald Koeman 16 minutes before the end of the match in favour of Sergio Busquets.

He played his first La Liga match on 13 February, against Deportivo Alavés (5-1 win). His first goal for Barcelona came two games later, on a visit to Osasuna. The midfielder scored the decisive 0-2 on a pass from Lionel Messi. Moriba changed his Spanish nationality to a Guinean nationality in August 2021. The same country in which he was born.

It was on 31 August 2021 that RB Leipzig announced Moriba's transfer to Germany for a fee of sixteen million euros. He signed until mid-2026. During his first half of the season at Leipzig, Moriba did not make more than two appearances in the league, both as a substitute. After this, he was loaned out to Valencia for the remainder of the season.

Moriba has played as a youth international for Spain, but was subsequently selected for the national teams of Liberia and Guinea. He decided to play for Guinea in August 2021, and was selected by coach Kaba Diawara in December 2021 for the postponed 2021 African Championship, and made his national team debut on 3 January 2022 in a friendly against Rwanda. Stay tuned for the 5 youngest players at AFCON 2021.

Hannibal Mejbri – Tunisia - 18 years 11 months 22 days

The third player in our list of youngest players in 2021 Africa Cup of Nations is a Manchester United player who many football fans and critics believe has what it takes to become one of the best African players of all time in the future. In the 2021 African Cup of Nations, Mjebri debuted in the first group stage match against Mali, in which they lost 0-1.

He started the match as one of the attacking midfielders of his team, before being replaced by Saîf-Eddine Khaoui at the start of the second half. While he was not amongst the best players at AFCON 2022, but in the future editions, we are going to hear more about him.

Mondher Kebaier, not satisfied by Mjebri in the first match, put him on the bench during the second group stage match. For the third match against the Gambia, Mjebri started on the bench and came in the 68th minute to replace Hamza Rafia. In the two future matches of the Tunisian national team, he was also on the bench, and thus he finished the 2021 African Cup of Nations with two group stage appearances.

He was born and raised in Ivry-sur-Seine, a municipality south-east of Paris. In 2009, he started playing football at Paris FC, where he went through the youth teams. As early as 2016, he drew the interest of several top international clubs. Mejbri finally moved to the youth team of AC Boulogne-Billancourt in 2017, where the first team was playing in the Championnat Nacional 2, the fourth French league, at that time. After only one year, Mejbri transferred to AS Monaco, for whom he also featured in the youth team, for a transfer fee of around €1 million.

At the age of 16, Mejbri moved to Manchester United's academy in August 2019. There he immediately impressed and was already playing for the Red Devils' U-23s in Premier League 2 when he was 17. Beside that, he also played in the U-18 Premier League. Mejbri was finally a regular for the U-23s in the Premier League 2 in the 2020/21 season.

He subsequently signed a new contract with the Red Devils in March 2021 until 2026. Because of his good performances, he was named the U-23s' player of the season and was named in the 1st-team squad in the Premier League by coach Ole Gunnar Solskjær on 23 May 2021. There he came on as a substitute for Juan Mata in the 82nd minute of the 2-1 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers, however, it remained his only Premier League appearance to date.

For the first time, Mejbri was named in the France U-16 national team squad in September 2018. There he made his debut in a 3-2 defeat to Denmark on 25 September 2018. He played in a total of 12 matches for the team, but only in friendlies. That same year, he was also named for the France U-17 national team for the first time. He debuted for the team on 22 October 2019 in an 8-0 win over Gibraltar, in which he scored 2 goals. But he was not called up for the upcoming U-17 World Cup.

Since his parents are from Tunisia, Mejbri opted to play for the Tunisian national team from then on. His debut came on 5 June 2021 in a 1-0 win over DR Congo, in which he came on as a 46th-minute substitute for Youssef Msakni. He played in two more friendly matches for the national team in the same month. He was also part of the Tunisian team in the 2022 FIFA Arab Cup and played in all of his team's matches up to the final.

Issahaku Abdul Fatawu – Ghana - 17 years 10 months 02 days

The second player in our list of youngest players in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, he proved to be one of the good prospects of the Ghanaian national team for the future. He made his debut in the tournament in the first group stage match against

, coming as a replacement for Joseph Paintsil in the 86th minute. In the second match against Gabon, he only came on the pitch in the 89th minute. His first full start was against Comoros, which he played as the right-winger before being replaced by Joseph Paintsil in the 60th minute.

was knocked out in the group stage with only one point.

The Ghanaian footballer, Issahaku Abdul Fatawu, is a graduate of the Tamale Utrecht Football Academy, a training center established by the management of FC Utrecht. He joined Stedfast FC of Tamale in the Ghanaian second division in 2019, where he rapidly became one of the key players in the senior team. After playing on loan for Ghanaian club Dreams FC for a few months, he was spotted by the Sporting CP scouts and the Portuguese club signed him for an undisclosed fee. He is currently part of the Sporting CP U23 team.

While playing in the U15 league in early 2018, Issahaku was selected for the Ghana U17 team for the first time. With this team he participated in the qualifications for the African Cup of Nations 2021. He was the captain of the team and scored in a remarkable draw against Nigeria, however, he was unable to prevent his team from losing 3-1 to Ivory Coast, which prevented Ghana from reaching the finals of the continental competition.

However, the young Abdul Fatawu was promoted to the Under-20 team and debuted in the 2021 continental competition. He started and scored in the first game of the Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations in a 4-0 win over Tanzania, where he scored a spectacular goal from the center of the field that led to his being named man of the match. Though they lost to Gambia in the group stage, where Issahaku scored his team's only goal, Ghana qualified for the quarterfinals and then beat Cameroon and Gambia to reach the final.

Having already scored twice in the group stage, Issahaku proved to be decisive again in the final match against Uganda. He set up captain Daniel Afriyie with a corner kick to score the first goal of the 2-0 victory, putting the Black Satellites on the continental stage on Ghana's Independence Day, 6 March. At just 16 years old, Issahaku was named player of the tournament. As one of the most talented players of this tournament, while he did not end up in the list of top 10 best players in Africa 2021, but we are going to hear more about him in the future editions of the African Cup of Nations.

Beyatt Lekoueiry – Mauritania - 16 years 09 months 09 days

Beyatt Lekoueiry, the youngest player of the 2021 African Cup of Nations was from Mauritania. The young midfielder who is currently on loan at AS Douanes in his home country, started his football at the FC Nouadhibou, which is one of the best football clubs of Mauritania. Being a highly technical midfielder, many Mauritanian football fans and experts consider him to be one of the greatest Mauritanian talents at the moment, and that is why the national coach decided to take him to Cameroon with the national team.

He has also played for the youth ranks of the Mauritanian national team since he was 15 years old. Beyatt Lekoueiry was amongst the best players of his team during the 2020 U-20 Arab Cup which was held in Saudi Arabia. During that tournament, they were in Group A with Tunisia, Iraq and Kuwait and finished third with three points, failing to qualify for the next stage.

Beyatt Lekoueiry was also set to play for the U-20 Mauritania national team in the 2021 U-20 African Cup of Nations, however, because of an injury he never played in that competition. For the 2021 African Cup of Nations in Cameroon, Beyatt Lekoueiry was part of the national team, but he did not play in the first two group stage matches for his national team against the Gambia and Tunisia.

However, in their last group stage match against the Malian national team, which Beyatt Lekoueiry was sitting on the bench, the coach decided to bring him in to replace Mouhamed Soueid in the 62nd minute of the match, when they were already 2-0 down. While Beyatt Lekoueiry failed to help his team avoid the defeat, but, by doing so, he became the youngest player of the 2021 African Cup of Nations with just 16 years 09 months 09 days.

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