Playing at the highest level is every professional football player’s dream, a status that the African Cup of Nations and other continental competitions hold second only to the FIFA World Cup.
Here is a list of countries that have never participated in AFCON:
1. Somalia
This troubled nation located on the horn of Africa in the eastern part of the continent has never appeared at the AFCON. Despite playing in a few qualifiers years back, civil war, internal strife, and collapse of recognized government have prevented organised sports like football from being played in Somalia.
2. Eritrea
This northeast African country has also never been to the Nation’s Cup. Lack of funding due to internal conflict and an almost non-existent football association have meant that Eritrea could never put up a team capable of qualifying.
3. South Sudan
This new African country barely started playing international football a couple of years ago. This, coupled with internal conflict and lack of funding, has prevented the team from qualifying for the AFCON.
4. Chad
Chad has also never qualified for the AFCON due mostly to lack of funding that consistently makes them pull out mid-way into the qualifiers.
5. São Tomé and Príncipe
Sao Tome and Principe is another island country that has found it difficult to qualify due to their small population and lack of resources.
6. Djibouti
The Horn of Africa nation hasn’t fared well in all the qualifiers they have featured in over the years. A combination of lack of talent, funding, and organising has not allowed them to progress all these years.
7. Central African Republic
The Central African Republic has somewhat surprisingly never qualified for the AFCON despite years of involvement in African football. The captain of Central African Republic is Atletico Madrid midfielder Geoffrey Kondogbia.
8. Eswatini
This small African kingdom has never qualified to play in the AFCON in their entire history. Despite always being involved in qualifiers, they have never quite been able to break the jinx.
Reach the right people at the right time with Nationnewslead. Try and advertise any kind of your business to users online today.
Kindly contact us for your advert or publication @ Nationnewslead@gmail.com Call or Whatsapp: 08168544205, 07055577376, 09122592273