The Eritrea national football team represents Eritrea in men's international football and it is controlled by the Eritrean National Football Federation (ENFF). It is nicknamed the Red Sea Boys. It has never qualified for the finals of the FIFA World Cup and the Africa Cup of Nations. Local side Red Sea FC are the main supplier for the national team, The team represents both FIFA and Confederation of African Football (CAF).
The CECAFA Cup, is the oldest football tournament in Africa. It is organized by the Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA). A FIFA competition, it includes participants of football playing national teams from the East African Region.
The 2009 CECAFA U-17 Championship was the 2nd edition of the CECAFA U-17 Championship organized bt CECAFA (Council of East and Central Africa Football Association. The second edition of the CEFAFA U-17 Championship, all games were originally to be played in Nairobi, Kenya but have since been moved to Sudan. due to financial reasons, the Sudanese FA and El Merreikh Investment Group have agreed to sponsor the tournament.
The 2012 CECAFA Cup was the 36th edition of the annual CECAFA Cup, an international football competition consisting of national teams of member nations of the Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA). The tournament, which was held in Uganda from 24 November to 8 December, saw South Sudan participate in their first international football tournament. Hosts Uganda beat Kenya in the final to extend their record to 13 titles.
The 2001 CECAFA Cup was the 25th edition of the football tournament that involves teams from East and Central Africa. The matches were played in Rwanda, who had last hosted the competition two years before, in 1999. All the matches at the tournament were played from 8 December 2001, when Rwanda beat Somalia, until the 22 December 2001, when both the final and third place play-off were hosted. Prior to the tournament, Sudan withdrew their participation, and as such were suspended from all CECAFA tournaments in the future on an indefinite basis. However, the suspension was lifted in time for the 2002 CECAFA Cup.
The 2006 Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup, sometimes called the Al Amoudi Senior Challenge Cup due to being sponsored by Ethiopian millionaire Mohammed Hussein Al Amoudi, was the 30th edition of the international football tournament, which involved teams from Southern and Central Africa. The matches were all played in Addis Ababa from 25 November to 10 December. It was competed between the same teams as the previous tournament, except for Eritrea, who did not enter due to their long-running clash with Ethiopia regarding borders, and Kenya, the five-time champions, were serving a ban which was issued on 18 October 2006, which was then an indefinite from international football by the decree of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association, or FIFA; this after Kenya "regularly violated or ignored" "Fifa's statutes, regulations and decisions". Malawi and Zambia joined the tournament after being invited, and competed as guest teams as they were from the federation Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA), whereas the rest of the teams were from the Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA). The reasoning behind their invitation was that it would "boost the competitiveness of this year's tournament". The defending champions, Ethiopia, were knocked out in the quarter-finals after coming second in their group, and Sudan claimed their second title despite being beaten by Zambia, as Zambia were guests.
The 2003 CECAFA Cup was the 27th edition of the CECAFA Cup, which involves teams from Southern and Central Africa. The matches were played in Sudan, from 30 November to 10 December. Burundi, Djibouti and Somalia withdrew before the draw of the groups for the tournament, complaining of financial difficulties. Just before the tournament, Ethiopia withdrew, and Tanzania also withdrew after the tournament started. Tanzania originally withdrew on the 27 November 2003, after their government did not pay for travel arrangements to Sudan. A day later though, on the 28 November, Tanzanian business magnate Azim Dewji produced cash to pay for airplane tickets, but the connecting flight from Nairobi, Kenya, to Khartoum, Sudan, were all full. Yahya Mata, chairman of the interim committee of the Football Association of Tanzania, stated that "We have pulled out of the tournament, after failure to secure connecting flights from Nairobi to Khartoum", the second withdrawal within four days prompted ridicule. In July 2003, Tanzania had been fined $5,000 USD, and forced to pay $11,313 USD to Sudan for the team not showing up for their final qualification match for the 2004 OFC Nations Cup, who then cited financial difficulties, and were estimated to be in $100,000 USD of debt.
The 2000 CECAFA Cup was the 24th edition of the football tournament, which involves teams from Southern and Central Africa. The matches were played in Uganda, a decision which Tanzania protested, but to no avail. Tanzania were also banned from international football by FIFA, the world football governing body. The matches were played from 18 November to 2 December 2000. Prior to the tournament, Djibouti withdrew due to monetary difficulties, but re-entered. Sudan and Zanzibar also withdrew, but stayed out. The reasoning behind their withdrawal was unknown.
The 2017 CECAFA Cup was the 39th edition of the annual CECAFA Cup, an international football competition consisting of the national teams of member nations of the Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA). It took place in Kenya in December 2017.
The 2019 CECAFA U15 Championship was the first CECAFA U-15 Championship organized by CECAFA. It was held in Eritrea
Ali Sulieman Salih is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for Ethiopian Premier League club Hawassa City. Born in Saudi Arabia, he represents the Eritrea national team.
The 2019 CECAFA Cup was the 40th edition of the annual CECAFA Cup, an international football competition consisting of the national teams of member nations of the Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA). It took place in Uganda in December 2019.
The 2020 CECAFA U-20 Championship took place from 22 November to 2 December 2020 in Arusha, Tanzania.
The 2020 CECAFA U17 Championship was the 4th CECAFA U-17 Championship organized by CECAFA. It took place from 12 to 22 December 2020 in Gisenyi, Rwanda.
The 2021 CECAFA U-23 Challenge Cup was 41st edition of the annual CECAFA Cup, an international football competition consisting of the national U-23 teams of member nations of the Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA).
The 2022 CECAFA U-20 Championship was the 14th edition and was hosted in Sudan. It was scheduled to be played from 28 October to 11 November 2022.
Robel Teklemichael Bahta is an Eritrean professional footballer who plays as a defender for Ethiopian Premier League club Ethiopian Coffee and captains the Eritrea national team.
Sabri Ali is a Djiboutian footballer who plays as a forward for Djibouti Premier League club FC Dikhil and the Djibouti national team.
Travis Mutyaba is a Ugandan footballer who plays for Uganda Premier League club SC Villa and the Uganda national team.
The 2022 CECAFA U17 Championship was the 5th CECAFA U-17 Championship organized by CECAFA. It took place from October 3 to October 15, 2022 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Kenya