Eritrean Football Team Withdraws from World Cup 2026 Qualification Amid Fear of Players Seeking Asylum
The Eritrean National Football Federation (ENFF) has withdrawn its men's national team from the qualification for the 2026 World Cup, expressing concerns that players might attempt to seek political asylum during overseas trips. The Guardian reports that all of Eritrea's team matches were canceled just days before they were scheduled to play their first match against Morocco, with no official explanations provided.
In a joint statement by FIFA and the Confederation of African Football (CAF) released last Friday, it was announced that Eritrea's national team would not participate in the qualification campaign. The ENFF has not provided any comments so far, but it is understood that local players had been preparing for the first two qualifying matches for three months before being informed at the end of October that they would not be participating. Some ENFF members reportedly tried to persuade the Ministry of Sport and Culture to allow the team to participate, but their requests were denied.
According to sources close to the team, the main reason behind this decision is to prevent players from taking advantage of international matches to escape and seek political asylum from the despotic regime of Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki, who imposes lifelong military service on many citizens.
Estimates suggest that since 2009, over 60 Eritrean players have not returned to the country after international matches. The most recent incident involves five women players who escaped a few hours before a match against Uganda in the Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations (Cecafa) Women's U20 Championship in November 2021.
Eritrea, which was supposed to compete against Morocco, Zambia, Congo, Tanzania, and Niger in the World Cup qualifying tournament, has not played since a friendly match against Sudan in January 2020. Their last competitive game was a World Cup qualifying match in September 2019. They no longer have a FIFA ranking due to not playing any matches in the last 48 months, and all matches must be played away due to the absence of a stadium in Eritrea that meets CAF requirements for hosting international matches.
Eritrea, one of Africa's poorest countries, has been under the dictatorship of Isaias Afwerki since 1993. According to Human Rights Watch, the Eritrean government is considered one of the worst in the world, and Eritrea ranks last in the world in the Freedom of the Press Index. Despite this, Eritrea remains a staunch ally of Russia on the African continent, voting in unison with Russia at the UN and expressing support for Russian actions.
It's worth noting that almost the entire youth handball team from Burundi, which mysteriously disappeared during the World Championship in Croatia, arrived in Belgium seeking asylum.