The Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) has a way of blooding young players at every edition and the 2021 edition currently going on in Cameroon is not an exception.

The Afcon tournament is usually a huge platform for teams to unearth new talents and over the years, many youngsters have been unearthed at the tournaments who have gone on to do great things for both clubs and countries.

NRTC brings you a list of the six youngest players at this year’s Afcon.

1) Beyatt Lekweiry – Mauritania

The Mauritanian midfielder is the youngest player at the 2021 Afcon at only 16 years old. Lekweiry, who plays for AS Douanes in Senegal, was also a key member of his country’s Under-20 Arab Cup last at aged only 15 years.

New coach, Didier Gomes da Rosa, has decided to make the young midfield enforcer a part of the team by handing him a chance with the big boys.

2) Ibrahim Sesay – Sierra Leone

The Leone Stars of Sierra Leone have in their fold, a 17-year old goalkeeper, Ibrahim Sesay, who is being touted to become one of the best shot stoppers to come out of Africa in a few years to come.

Though Sesay is not expected to be an outright starter in Cameroon, he will have plenty of experience to pick from mixing it up with the seniors.

Sierra Leone’s young goalkeeper, Ibrahim Sesay (Photo Credit- Getty Images)
The 17-year-old, who made his topflight debut this season, came in for huge praise during Sierra Leone friendly game with The Gambia for his outstanding performance.

Sesay started his career with the East End Tigers and has been very exceptional in the Sierra Leone Premier League throughout the season.

The young goalkeeper recently made a breakthrough with the Leone stars squad and was also exceptional in the Leone stars recent friendly match against Morocco.

3) Karim Konaté – Ivory Coast

The Asec Mimosa youth team product is another young prospect who will showcase his huge potentials at the Afcon tournament in Cameroon.

Coach Patrice Baumelle took the bold step by calling up the 17-year old striker into the main team after scoring seven goals in 18 matches in his debut season for the Ivory Coast ASEC Mimosa senior team.


He made his debut for the national team in a 0–0 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification tie with Mozambique in march 2021.

4) Abdul Fatawu Issahaku – Ghana

Ghana also has a young player in their fold in Issahaku who is only 17-years-old. Issahaku was named as the Most Valuable Player at the 2021 Africa Under-20 Cup of Nations in Mauritania, where he led Ghana’s young team to the title with emphatic performances.

Issahaku also represented Ghana and was the captain of the national under-17 team in 2020, playing during the 2021 Africa U-17 Cup of Nations qualifiers.


Young Ghanaian Black Star, Abdul Fatawu Issahaku (Photo Credit: The Liverpool Offside)
The midfielder who now plies his trade with Dreams FC in the Ghanaian league, made his debut for the senior national team last September in Ghana’s 3-1 win over Zimbabwe in a World Cup qualifier.

He also played in Ghana’s 3-0 loss to Algeria in their pre-AFCON friendly match played in Doha.

5) Ilaix Moriba – Guinea

The 18-year old midfielder who plays for Red Bull Leipzig in the German Bundesliga, was born in Conakry, Guinea, to a Guinean mother and a Liberian father. He holds both Spanish and Guinean citizenship.

He started his youth career at Espanyol before moving to Barcelona. In 2019, he was elevated to the Barca B team before ultimately making the switch to the senior team last season where he played 14 matches and scoring once, before moving to Germany.

Young Ilax Moriba is one youngster to look out for at Afcon 2021 (Photo Credit: Getty Images)
Moriba officially chose to change international allegiances from Spain to enable him play for the Guinean national football team in August 2021.

6) Hannibal Mjebri – Tunisia

18-years-old Mjebri currently plays for Manchester United and was named in Tunisia’s squad for the Afcon.

The midfielder grafter thus becomes the youngest player in the Tunisian team after he was called up to be a part of the team for the African Mundial.

Mejbri joined the Manchester United youth system in 2019 from AS Monaco after previous stints with Clairefontaine academy. He made his senior debut for the club in a Premier League game in May 2021.

Born in France to Tunisian parents, Mejbri represented his native country at under-16 and under-17 levels. He made his senior international debut for Tunisia in 2021.

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