Yakan emotional after Eritrea AFCON qualifying group-stage feat

Eritrea coach Hasham Yakan has expressed his delight with the manner of their progression to the group stage of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifying race.

The Red Sea Camels, returning to the AFCON qualification campaign after being absent for many years, produced one of the shocks of the preliminary round.

#Eritrea’s national team coach, Hesham Yakan 🇪🇬, erupted with joy after his side secured a 2-0 victory over Eswatini in the AFCON 2027 qualifiers in #Morocco yesterday @africa_dne @ahramonline 🇪🇷🤝🇪🇬 pic.twitter.com/GLopgZt2Fz

— EritreanPost 🇪🇷🇸🇴🇩🇯🇸🇩🇪🇬 (@eritrean_post) March 26, 2026

Eritrea gave Eswatini a reality check by beating them 3-0 in the preliminary round first leg last week in Morocco.

Those who thought such a result was a fluke got a shock of their lives as the East Africans completed a double over the Southern African opposition on Tuesday.

The charges for Yakan beat Sihlangu 2-1 on Tuesday to book a place in the group stage of the AFCON qualifying round 4-1 on aggregate.

Eritrea coach reacts after Eswatini double

Reacting to the feat, the Egyptian, as quoted by the Eritrea National Football Federation website, praised his players for the hard work over the two legs. After the game, the coach could not contain it he erupted in joy.

“Scoring four goals and conceding one means that the team played well and we are happy to qualify for the next stage,” Yakan said.

The team’s key player Sulieman Ibrahim could not agree more with his coach, saying: “I am very happy that I scored three goals in the preliminary round of the qualifiers and helped my team reach the next stage.”

Sihlangu needed a three-goal margin victory at Somholo National Stadium in Lobamba to progress to the AFCON qualifying round group stage.

Who else has joined Eritrea in the group stage?

However, Eritrea stunned the home crowd further when Ali Suleiman scored the opener in the 50th-minute before grabbing his brace of the afternoon nine minutes later to condemn the hosts out of the qualifying race.

Eswatini’s defeat came as a surprise considering that Eritrea have just returned to action after 18 years of isolation from the AFCON qualifiers while also not being ranked.

Eritrea have since advanced to the group stage comprising 12 four-member groups who will begin the qualifying matches in September. South Sudan, Burundi, Ethiopia, Somalia and Lesotho are the other teams that have also made it to the next phase.