Eritrea are set to end a six year international football exile after being drawn against Eswatini in the preliminary round for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations. The Red Sea state hasn’t played a single fixture since a 2020 friendly against Sudan.
The draw, made on Tuesday, pits Eritrea in a two legged knockout tie in March. It marks a stunning and unexpected return for a nation whose football team has been completely absent from the global stage due to a longstanding and tragic pattern of player defections whilst abroad.
The national side hasn’t participated in any World Cup or AFCON qualifiers for years, ever since players started using away trips as a chance to flee. There’s been high profile defections after matches in Angola, Kenya, Uganda and Botswana, with an estimated 80 footballers leaving the team and never returning. The situation got so bad that Eritrea stopped letting its teams travel abroad entirely after members of an under 20 side fled in 2019.
This makes their re entry into the 2027 qualifying process a major surprise. They had entered the last AFCON prelims only to later withdraw, so nobody was holding their breath. But it seems the authorities has had a change of heart, perhaps swayed by the historic nature of the upcoming tournament, if Eritrea play, it’ll be the first AFCON where every single one of Africa’s 54 nations have competed at some point.
Eritrea currently have no FIFA ranking, a consequence of not playing an official match within the last four years. They face a tricky tie against Eswatini, who are ranked 144th in the world. The winners over two legs will advance to the group stage alongside Africa’s top 42 nations.
For Eritrean football, this is a tentative step back into the light. But the shadow of past defections loom large over the squad. All eyes will be on March to see if the team actually makes it to the pitch, and more pressingly, if the entire travelling party returns home afterwards. Their next fixture, should it go ahead, will be their most scrutinised in history.
