Who are the stars to watch in the international break this month as African nations compete for the final phase of AFCON 2025 qualifier.
We take a look at three of the players to watchout for in different stadia across the Africa.
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African Stars to Watch – November 2024
Victor Osimhen of Nigeria
The 25-year-old haa been on fire for his club Galatasaray, scoring five goals in his last threee games and has eleven goal involvements in nine games across all competitions for the Super Lig champions.
Osimhen, who missed the last international break due to injury, is back with the squad as the Super Eagles set to take on Benin and Rwanda in the final phase of the 2025 African Cup of Nations qualifiers.
The current CAF Player of the year award holder will be looking to add to his 22 international goals to equal and maybe surpass Segun Odegbami’s total of 23 for the country, and become the second all-time leading goalscorer in Nigeria’s history, behind Rashidi Yekini, 37.
However, his primary assignment will be helping the team seal qualification for the AFCON tournament, an achievement they are poised to seal as they currently lead the way in Group D, ahead of other hopeful, Benin and Rwanda.
Serhou Guirassy of Guinea
The Borussia Dortmund striker scored five goals in the previous international break as the National Elephants secured an impressive 8-1 aggregate win over two legs against Ethiopia.
It helped Michel Dussuyer’s side get their qualification campaign back on track after losing their previous two games against Tanzania and DR Congo, who await them in this break — both games were played without Guirassy, who was injured at the time.
The striker has also went on to register six goal involvements in seven Borussia Dortmund games, taking his goal contributions for Nuri Sahin’s struggling side to 12 in 13 games across all competitions, nine goals and three assists.
The responsibility of scoring the goals to topple two nations whom they’ve never beaten in their combined seven meetings since 2016 lies on the shoulder of the 28-year-old, who has scored seven times for his country since his debut in March 2022.
Jordan Zemura of Zimbabwe
The secret to Zimbabwe’s odds defying performances in the 2025 African Cup of Nations qualifiers has been their solid defensive performance, which has seen them kept three clean sheets in four games so far.
Their only goal conceded came in the 90th minute at home to Namibia, when they were already leading 3-0 and have the three points in the bag.
Udinese leftback Jordan Zemura has been a vital part of that defence. The 24-year-old is having his longest run in the team since his debut in late 2019 and has taken his camp for The Wariors to 12, including four in this qualifiers.
Zemura has been very solid, both defensively and going forward. He has registered one assist and won the penalty for the lone goal away in Botswana.
He will need his fellow defenders to be up and running in the upcoming games as just replicating their solid defensive performance against Kenya in their next game will be enough to secure qualification, even if they do not score.
For the least ranked nation in Group J, Zimbabwe reaching Morocco 2025 is no longer farfetched, but they have to cash in on the prize before starting a party.
