Eritrea's football set for return to international stage after six-year absence

Eritrea is set to play its first international football match in more than six years after entering the preliminaries for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations finals, to be played in March.

The state on the Red Sea was drawn on Tuesday to take on Eswatini over two legs in the preliminary round in March, in what would be their first outing since a friendly loss to Sudan in January 2020.

Eritrea has not participated in any internationals since declining the opportunity to compete in World Cup and Cup of Nations qualification after players consistently defected while on away trips.

Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993.

Players and other team members defected after matches or tournaments in Angola in 2007, Kenya in 2009, Tanzania in 2011, Uganda in 2012, Botswana in 2015, following a World Cup qualifier, and Uganda again in 2019.

Change of heart

It is estimated some 80 footballers have defected while playing for the national team abroad, none of them going on to pursue their football careers in exile.

Eritrea has not allowed teams to travel outside the country since members of its under-20 side fled to Uganda in 2019.

Eritrea did, however, enter the last Cup of Nations preliminaries only to later withdraw.

If they play in the 2027 qualifiers, it will be the first ever Cup of Nations where every one of the 54 countries on the continent has competed.

The bottom 12 teams in the rankings were drawn on Tuesday into six knockout round ties, to be played home and away in March, to get the 2027 qualifiers underway.

The winners will advance to the group stage, along with Africa’s 42 top-ranked teams, to be divided into 12 groups of four teams each.

No FIFA ranking

The top two in each group then qualify for the finals, except in those groups where already-qualified co-hosts Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda are drawn to play.

Eritrea has no FIFA ranking because it has not played a fixture within world football’s governing body’s parameters of 48 months.

2027 Africa Cup of Nations preliminary round draw:

Djibouti v South Sudan Chad v Burundi Somalia v Mauritius Seychelles v Lesotho Eritrea v Eswatini Sao Tome e Principe v Ethiopia. The team mentioned first plays at home in the first leg. The ties will be played between March 25-31.