{"id":674242,"date":"2026-01-04T23:20:20","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T23:20:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/674242\/"},"modified":"2026-01-04T23:20:20","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T23:20:20","slug":"bad-news-for-man-utd-as-cameroon-and-moroccos-afcon-last-16-fate-decided-but-one-will-return-home-within-days","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/674242\/","title":{"rendered":"Bad news for Man Utd as Cameroon and Morocco’s AFCON last 16 fate decided, but one will return home within days"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Manchester United are hoping to get the team\u2019s absent stars back as soon as possible.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ruben Amorim<\/a>\u2018s Manchester United somehow sit in sixth place in the Premier League table<\/a> despite inconsistent form.<\/p>\n

It makes you wonder where we might be if not for injuries and absences.<\/p>\n

\"NoussairPhoto by Paul ELLIS \/ AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

In addition to fitness problems, United are missing three key players at the African Cup of Nations; Bryan Mbeumo<\/a>, Noussair Mazraoui<\/a> and Amad<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If there is one crumb of comfort, it\u2019s that the tournament is now into the knockout stages<\/a>, with Cameroon and Morocco both playing their last 16 ties.<\/p>\n

And with that, provided an opportunity for two of United\u2019s stars to be sent home.<\/p>\n

What do YOU think of Ruben Amorim\u2019s latest comments? Is there trouble behind the scenes? <\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI came here to be the manager of Manchester United, not to be the head coach.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know my name is not Conte, Tuchel, Mourinho but I\u2019m the manager of Manchester United. It\u2019s going to be like this for 18 months or until the board decide to change. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not going to quit. I\u2019ll do my job until another guy is coming here to replace me.<\/p>\n

Ruben Amorim<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"LeedsPhoto by Molly Darlington\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc47 Join the debate; share your insight. Use the comment button on the bottom left to have your say <\/p>\n

Morocco and Cameroon results<\/p>\n

Morocco are the hosts of the current AFCON<\/a> and are among the favourites to go on and win it, potentially prolonging Noussair Mazraoui\u2019s absence.<\/p>\n

They played their first knockout game, narrowly defeating Tanzania in the Last 16.<\/p>\n

Mazraoui played 76 minutes, starring at left-back, with Achraf Hakimi on the right.<\/p>\n

And in their match, Cameroon came out on top against South Africa, winning the game 2-1.<\/p>\n

Mbeumo did not score, but played all 90 minutes in the victory.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s bad news for United that both players\u2019 involvement at the AFCON continues \u2013 but there is an interesting twist.<\/p>\n

The victories set up a quarter-final showdown between Morocco and Cameroon to be played on January 9.<\/p>\n

Just five days away, it means one of Mbeumo or Mazraoui will be heading home to Manchester United within the week.<\/p>\n

And while next Sunday\u2019s FA Cup game with Brighton<\/a> will come as too tight a turnaround \u2013 it does mean they would be likely to play on January 17th vs Manchester City.<\/p>\n

Who do Man Utd need back more? Bryan Mbeumo or Noussair Mazraoui <\/p>\n

The two will go head to head in the AFCON quarter-finals<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc47 Join the debate; share your insight. Use the comment button on the bottom left to have your say <\/p>\n

Amad latest<\/p>\n

The third Manchester United player at the tournament is yet to play his last 16 game.<\/p>\n

Amad\u2019s Ivory Coast<\/a> will take on Burkina Faso in two days time. They would then face a quarter-final against the winner of Egypt and Benin.<\/p>\n

Mount and Fernandes boost coming<\/p>\n

Speaking after Manchester United\u2019s draw with Leeds<\/a>, Ruben Amorim explained that he expects to have Bruno Fernandes<\/a> and Mason Mount <\/a>back shortly.<\/p>\n

He was quoted via club media<\/a>: \u201cI expect to have some minutes of maybe Bruno [Fernandes] and Mason Mount, maybe. So, we\u2019ll see.\u201d<\/p>\n

The cavalry is coming. Not quickly enough, but it is on the way.<\/p>\n

Join Our Newsletter <\/p>\n

Receive a digest of our best United content each week direct to your mailbox<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Manchester United are hoping to get the team\u2019s absent stars back as soon as possible. Ruben Amorim\u2018s Manchester…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":674243,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4100],"tags":[67792,37199,94,12242,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-674242","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-afcon","9":"tag-bryan-mbeumo","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-noussair-mazraoui","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115839397452003958","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/674242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=674242"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/674242\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/674243"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=674242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=674242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=674242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}