Mohamed Elneny and Egypt have been eliminated from the Africa Cup of Nations, leaving Arsenal with no participants in the tournament.

Over the weekend, Egypt were eliminated by the Democratic Republic of the Congo 8-7 on penalties, with goalkeeper Gabaski missing the pivotal spot-kick to hand his opposite number the winning penalty.

Arsenal’s Mohamed Elneny had started the match, playing 112 minutes of the 1-1 draw between normal time and extra time.

But the midfielder came off before the shootout, and he could only watch as his team were eliminated.

Elneny was Arsenal’s only current squad member to feature at AFCON this year, though a few former players have been involved.

Alex Iwobi remains in the tournament with Nigeria, playing alongside Arsenal-linked Victor Osimhen, whilst Nicolas Pepe won a penalty for the Ivory Coast on Monday to help them equalise and eventually progress to the next round as well.

But that’s arguably now the only vested interest Arsenal fans might have in the competition.

Even when it comes to Arsenal’s opponents, Mohamed Salah’s Egypt are out, so that won’t affect this weekend’s Liverpool match – though his injury might.

Similarly, Mohammed Kudus and Ghana have been eliminated, so he should be back to face Arsenal with West Ham in February.

West Ham’s Nayef Aguerd is the only player with a question mark around his participation, as Morocco are still currently involved at the tournament. But he didn’t feature in the last clash between Arsenal and West Ham anyway.

Any Arsenal fans watching the tournament can now simply focus on enjoying the games and rooting for whichever team they prefer, knowing it likely won’t have any impact on the Gunners.