Hibs star on collision course with Myziane Maolida as Easter Road trio in contrasting AFCON fortunes

A trio of Hibs stars are taking part in the latest instalment of the Africa Cup of Nations - with an ace en route to facing up against Myziane Maolida.

Miguel Chaiwa is at the major tournament in Morocco with Zambia while Jordan Obita features with Uganda. Rocky Bushiri is part of the DR Congo squad and all three sides have played their opening matches of the tournament that takes place over the festive period and into early 2026.

Hibs meanwhile have important Premiership matches ahead with the next being an Edinburgh derby with Hearts. In the meantime, here are how Chaiwa, Obita and Bushiri are getting on in Africa.

Miguel Chaiwa

Midfielder Chaiwa started and featured for 67 mins in Zambia’s 1-1 draw with Mali. Lassine Sinayoko put Mali ahead but Patson Daka levelled to gain Chaiwa’s side a crucial point as they now head into matchday two versus Comoros on Boxing Day, who have popular former Hibs man Maolida in their ranks.

Moses Sichone, who has stepped into the head coach role after Avram Grant’s departure last month, said of Zambia’s chances: “The task of leading the Chipolopolo at AFCON is huge, and I know what is required at this stage. I am very thankful for the opportunity given to me by my FA. It is not an easy job, but I have been with the national team for some time and I understand how things work and how to get results. In the last few editions we have not performed as well as we would have liked, but we have picked important lessons. We have analysed what we need to do differently to improve our performance this time around.”

Jordan Obita

For Obita and Uganda, they face a crunch matchday two, after a 3-1 loss against Tunisia. The left-back played the entire game and Uganda face Tanzania on Saturday where a positive result will be needed to give them a chance of progression. Head coach Paul Put said: “We showed them too much respect, we know they are good at set pieces. This is a bad start. I think we were not aggressive enough. If you play AFCON, you need to win the duels.

“We only had about 25 minutes of the game but the rest, we were on the backfoot which is not enough for a competition like the Africa Cup of Nations. We know what we have to do in our next game. We will be playing under pressure. A draw will not be enough. You now need to win your next game to be in a position to finish second or third. We will analyse the game and identify what we did wrong and what can be done better. I do believe that we can bounce back.”

Rocky Bushiri

DR Congo achieved a narrow 1-0 win against Benin where Bushiri was an unused sub and his nation face Senegal in a key clash on Saturday. Boss Sebastien Desabre said pre match: "This is the biggest competition on our continent. We are very very motivated to put on a good performance. As usual, we tried to prepare well despite the small inconveniences caused by the delay of the arrival of the players, but we are extremely motivated to participate in this great African event.”