The Eritrean national team withdrew from the selection for the 2026 World Cup due to the possible escape of football players to other countries (2 photos)

Eritrean footballers are said to be looking forward to the competition so they can escape the country.





Eritrea has found a radical solution to the problem of runaway athletes. The African country's football federation simply refused to allow the men's team to participate in the 2026 World Cup qualifying tournament.

Eritrean sports officials are very concerned that many football players, if they find themselves outside their homeland, will simply remain in other countries and not return. The fears, it must be said, are more than justified. It is known that since 2009, more than 60 Eritrean football players have taken advantage of their status as national team players and sought political asylum in various countries. And in December 2019, 7 national team players simply disappeared in Uganda after helping the team reach the final of the CESAFA Cup (a competition between football teams of East and Central Africa) for the first time.



Eritrea national team in Uganda, 2019. The last photo of the then national team in full force. After some time, seven football players will disappear in Uganda

But the loss of even seven players at once is a small thing for Eritrea. You will laugh, but in 2009, after the country’s national team lost in the quarterfinals of the East and Central African Cup in Kenya, the entire team disappeared at once. Only the head coach and the national team security returned home. After some time, it became known that the entire team of football players applied to the Kenya Refugee Organization with a request for political asylum.