Eritrea’s football federation withdrew its men’s team from 2026 World Cup qualifying owing to fears that players would attempt to seek political asylum during trips abroad, according to sources close to the squad.
A joint statement from Fifa and the Confederation of African Football (Caf) on Friday said that “all of Eritrea’s matches have been cancelled”, a few days before they had been due to travel to face Morocco in their first fixture, but provided no explanation.
