Footballers’ disappearances cast a shadow over Eritrea’s future participationEritrea’s participation in the Africa Cup of Nations preliminaries is now in question after seven of their footballers disappeared following their victory in Eswatini last month that secured them a spot in the group-stage qualifiers. The players went missing after Eritrea completed a 4-1 aggregate triumph over Eswatini on March 31. The episode keeps up a pattern that has characterised their international participation over the last two decades and led to Eritrea infrequently competing in both the World Cup and Cup of Nations qualifiers. Victory over Eswatini proved a surprise success for the lowly-ranked Eritrea considering they had not played an international match for six years. Eritrea has been largely closed off to the rest of the world and has been described as a ‘hermit’ country.

Source: Daily Nation April 09, 2026 23:31 UTC