NEWS
Eritrea pull out from FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifiers
The Eritrean National Football Federation (ENFF) has confirmed the withdrawal of the national team from the FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifiers which start later this month.
After Eritrea’s withdrawal, the Council of East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA) will now have ten teams compete in the qualifiers.
On Friday FIFA and CAF confirmed that Eritrea and written and confirmed withdrawing. The world body said Group E will now be compete for by five teams that include ; Morocco, Zambia, Congo, Niger and another team from the CECAFA Zone Tanzania.
” All of Eritrea’s matches have been cancelled, while the rest of the match schedule for Group E remains unchanged, ” said the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
When CECAFA contacted Paulos Weldehaimanot, the ENFF President for comment, he didnot respond to the messages.
The ten teams from the CECAFA Zone that will tussle it out in the FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifiers include ; Ethiopia, Djibouti, Sudan, South Sudan, Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya, Burundi, Uganda and Somalia.
The draw for the Council of East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA) U-17 Women’s Championship 2026 has been conducted.
Andrew Jackson Oryada, Head of Marketing and Communication conducted the draw at the FUFA TV headquarters in Kampala on Thursday.
Seven teams including debutants Somalia and Sudan will feature in the Championship slated for June 13-23rd in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
The hosts Tanzania have been drawn in Group A alongside Kenya, Somalia and Sudan, while Group B has Uganda, South Sudan and Djibouti.
Kenya will face Sudan in the opening match on June 13th, while hosts Tanzania battle Somalia in the second match the same day at the KMC Stadium.
“We are delighted that Somalia and Sudan will for the first time take part in the Championship which also provides Member Associations in the Zone with the opportunity to build the Women’s Youth teams,” added Oryada.
The other tournaments lined-up on the 2026 CECAFA calendar include; CECAFA Kagame Cup, CAF Women’s Champions League CECAFA qualifiers, CAF U-20 CECAFA qualifiers, CAF African Schools Football Championship CECAFA qualifiers and CAF U-17 CECAFA qualifiers.
Vipers Sports Club are champions of the 2025/2026 StarTimes Uganda Premier League.
The Kitende based side defeated Maroons FC 3-0 in a match played at the Wankulukuku Stadium on Tuesday to clinch their eighth Premier League title.
Veteran Yunus Sentamu gave Vipers SC the lead, before Usama Arafat and Karim Watambala added to more goals to ensure Vipers SC clinched the title with one more match to be played.
The win and a goalless draw by closest challengers KCCA FC against URA FC ensured Vipers bagged yet another trophy as they now have 64 points from 29 matches.
In the other matches played on Tuesday army side UPDF settled for a goalless draw against Calvary FC, while Police FC and Entebbe UPPC also drew 1-1, Bidco FC and Kitara FC drew 1-1, while Express FC and Lugazi FC also ended 0-0
Vipers SC handled by Belgian Van Jacky Minnaert will now represent Uganda in the 2025/2026 TotalEnergies CAF Champions League.
CECAFA teams Sudan and Ethiopia have been placed in Group J 2027 TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) PAMOJA qualifiers.
In the draw conducted at the Egyptian Football Association headquarters in Cairo, Egypt on Tuesday, the two CECAFA teams were placed alongside Senegal and Mozambique.
The draw was conducted by former African football stars Max-Alain Gradel (Cote d’Ivoire), William Troost-Ekong (Nigeria), Essam El Hadary (Egypt) and Trésor Mputu (DR Congo).
Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania will co-host the tournament from June 19 June to July 17, 2027. Co-hosts will take part in qualifiers but have secured their places as co-hosts, so one team from their pool will join them.
The first matches of the group qualifiers will kick-off in September, 2026.
Group D also has two CECAFA teams Kenya and Eritrea together with South Africa and Guinea. Somalia who are making a return to the group stage of the qualifiers after several years are placed alongside Ivory Coast, Ghana and The Gambia.
The 48 teams that will play in the qualifiers have been placed into 12 groups, with the top two in each pool advancing to the continental finals.
The national team of Kenya will play two International friendly matches against Kyrgyzstan and Palestine next month.
Under the watchful eyes of head coach Benni McCarthy, the Harambee Stars will line up against Palestine on June 3rd, and three days later face hosts Kyrgyzstan.
The two matches will be played during the June FIFA international window.
The technical bench of the team has today named the squad including five new call-ups; Deon Woodman (Wealdstone FC), Sammy Hena-Kamau (Hull City), Micah Obiero (Wealdstone FC), Sydney Agina (Stoke City) and goalkeeper Caleb Kramer (ADO Den Haag).
Although they are automatic qualifiers as co-hosts of the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2027, Kenya will also play in the qualifiers that kick-off in September 2026.
Squad
Goalkeepers: Byrne Omondi, Faruk Shikhalo, Caleb Kramer
Defenders: Erick Ouma, Stanley Wilson, Sylvester Owino, Frank Odhiambo, Alphonce Omija, Deon Woodman, Rooney Onyango, Sydney Agina
Midfielders: Richard Odada, Chris Erambo, Clarke Odour, Will Lenkupae, Austine Odhiambo, Zech Obiero
Attackers: Job Ochieng, Mohammed Bajaber, Ben Stanley, Sammy Hena-Kamau, Micah Obiero, Ryan Ogam, Lawrence Okoth
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