Nohan Kenneh handed AFCON qualifiers chance as Liberia call up Hibs midfielder

The 20-year-old, who is on loan at Ross County until the summer, represented England at youth level after arriving in the country as a refugee at the age of six, but has the chance to represent the West African nation when they take on South Africa in Johannesburg on March 24 and again in Monrovia on March 28.

He played in the same England Under-17 side as Easter Road colleagues CJ Egan-Riley and Will Fish and shared a pitch with the likes of Jude Bellingham and Jamal Musiala but will hope to make his senior bow for his country of birth later this month.

Managed by former West Brom, Southend, and West Ham midfielder Peter Butler, Liberia are currently third in Group K but with Zimbabwe disqualified from the tournament following FIFA’s decision to suspend the country’s football association, matches will be played in a round-robin format with teams playing against each other home and away. Liberia lost their opening match to Morocco 2-0 in Casablanca and have made the final tournament just twice, once in 1996 and again in 2002.

Kenneh’s Lone Stars call-up makes him the 24th Hibs-contracted player to gain international recognition since the start of the 2022/23 campaign, with players from the men’s first team, women’s first team, and both academies all either capped or included in squads since July 31.

Writing on Instagram Kenneh said: “Proud moment for me and my family to have the opportunity to represent Liberia in the upcoming AFCON qualifiers. Let’s go!”