Arsenal and Liverpool stars set for Africa Cup of Nations as Egypt, Gabon and Ghana qualify

A host of Premier League stars secured qualification for the Africa Cup of Nations as Gabon, Ghana and Egypt were joined by the likes of Comoros and Gambia, who will make surprising debuts at next year's tournament.

Twelve of 24 teams have now qualified for the tournament next January and February, including defending champion Algeria and Sadio Mane's Senegal. Both those countries booked their places in November.

The African Cup was due to be played in January and February this year but was postponed by 12 months because of the coronavirus pandemic, meaning the likes of Arsenal and Liverpool will be depleted for a number of weeks.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's Gabon beat Congo 3-0 to qualify from Group D. Aubameyang rounded off the victory with the third goal four minutes from the end.

Mohamed Salah and Mohamed Elneny's Egypt drew 1-1 in Kenya, enough to see the record seven-time champion clinch one of the two qualifying places in Group G.

That result also helped Comoros take the other spot. Comoros had earlier drawn 0-0 at home against Togo but Kenya needed to win in order to maintain its hopes of qualifying in the last round of matches next week.

Comoros, an archipelago of volcanic islands off the east coast of Africa, is one of the continent's smallest countries and has a population of less than a million. But it had some memorable results in the qualifying campaign, including victories over Togo and Kenya and a 1-1 draw at home against Egypt.

Thomas Partey’s Ghana qualified after drawing 1-1 away against South Africa in Group C.

Additional reporting by Reuters.