Eritrea will not participate in the African qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup. The country's football federation and FIFA have issued a joint statement clarifying that the African team will not play the qualifiers.
The brief statement released by FIFA did not give reasons for Eritrea's withdrawal: "FIFA and CAF confirm that the National Football Association of Eritrea has withdrawn from the competition for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. All of Eritrea's matches have been cancelled, while the rest of Group E matches remain unchanged, with Morocco, Zambia, Congo, Tanzania and Niger".
Eritrea is currently not in the FIFA rankings because it has not played an official match in over four years. Several African media reported that the decision to withdraw the team from the qualifiers came from the country's government, which fears that some players may defect during their trip to Morocco to play the first match, scheduled for November 16.
In 2019, 10 Eritrean players sought asylum in Botswana, during the qualifiers for the Qatar 2022 World Cup. Thus, one of the harshest dictatorships in the world has decided that the representative team will not play the qualifiers at all.
Last year, Eritrea also withdrew from the qualifiers for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, which will be played next January in Ivory Coast.
In 2021, Reporters Without Borders identified Eritrea as the country with the least press freedom in the world, even less than North Korea.
(A2 Televizion)
A2 CNN Livestream
MUND TE LEXONI GJITHASHTU
