A guide to the Africa Cup of Nations fixtures
Manchester United must do without the services of Amad, Bryan Mbeumo and Noussair Mazraoui for the upcoming period.
How long the trio will remain unavailable is down to how successful their respective countries are in Morocco, as the event spans beyond mid-January.
Mazraoui is representing the hosts, who are rated as the bookmakers' favourites to lift the trophy.
Amad is in the Ivory Coast squad, while Bryan Mbeumo looks set to skipper Cameroon, who did not name Andre Onana in their group.
The tournament gets under way on Sunday, when Morocco meet Comoros in a 20:00 GMT kick-off. Mali and Zambia are also in Group A.
The openers for Ivory Coast (v Mozambique) and Cameroon (v Gabon) take place on Christmas Eve.
Amad and Mbeumo, close friends at United, then do battle on Sunday 28 December, before Ivory Coast finish their group stage with a tie against Gabon and Cameroon tackle Mozambique.
The top two from the four groups progress to the round of 16, along with the four best third-placed sides.
There is a third/fourth-placed play-off game scheduled for 17 January, with the final staged in Rabat on the day afterwards.
For context, United face Aston Villa on Sunday before welcoming Newcastle United and Wolverhampton Wanderers to Old Trafford before the year is out.
Our 2026 kicks off at Leeds United, ahead of a trip to Burnley and the Emirates FA Cup tie against Brighton & Hove Albion, which is on 11 January.
If our players do go all the way, they would miss the Manchester derby, against City, which is on 17 January.
Best of luck to all three of our Reds competing in AFCON.
GROUP FIXTURES INVOLVING REDS
21 Dec: MOROCCO v Comoros
24 Dec: IVORY COAST v Mozambique (17:30 GMT), CAMEROON v Gabon (20:00 GMT)
26 Dec: MOROCCO v Mali (20:00 GMT)
28 Dec: IVORY COAST v CAMEROON (20:00 GMT)
29 Dec: Zambia v MOROCCO
31 Dec: Gabon v IVORY COAST, Mozambique v CAMEROON
Kick-off 19:00 GMT unless stated.