Eritrea will continue participating in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers despite seven of their players defecting when they last played a match in March, but now intend to field a team made up of players drawn from the diaspora.

Eritrea has seen many sportspeople defect over the last two decades to avoid military conscription.

Seven Eritrean players went missing after they completed a 4-1 aggregate triumph over Eswatini in March 2026 to get through the Cup of Nations preliminary round and book a place in the group phase of the qualifiers for next year’s finals in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda.

Eritrea will face Kenya in Nairobi in their opening Group D match on Saturday and host South Africa on September 30, with the match being played in Cairo because they do not have adequate facilities.

Dual nationality players

Eritrea’s squad for the two games features only three locally based players – those who returned home from the game in Eswatini. The seven who defected have since applied for political asylum in South Africa, exile groups told Reuters.

Eritrean authorities have instructed the football association to now focus on selecting dual nationals based abroad, the investigative newsletter Africa Intelligence reported last week.

Their squad for the opening two group games draws 27 players from clubs in 13 different countries, many of them born abroad to Eritrean parents. A total of 14 have been called up for the first time.

Hammarby midfielder Tesfaldet Tekie, who has a senior cap for Sweden, is among those listed. He was previously called up in March but did not travel for the two-legged tie against Eswatini.

Had not played an international match for six years

Victory over Eswatini proved a surprise success, considering Eritrea had not played an international match for six years and did not even have a ranking.

Eritrea has been ruled by President Isaias Afwerki since independence in 1993.