The Eritrean team has progressed to the second round of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup™ qualifiers after ejecting Djibouti.

Kenya is among the 24 countries exempted from this round of play, a list that also includes Sierra Leone, Gambia, Namibia, Botswana, Burundi, Congo, Angola and Burkina Faso. Other exempted nations are Cameroon, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea and Malawi, with Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Guinea-Bissau also on the list.

Eritrea humbled Djibouti 3-0 in the return leg played on Wednesday at the Abebe Bikila Stadium in Addis Ababa to qualify on a 6-1 goal aggregate.

The two legs were played on a neutral ground in Ethiopia. Eritrea won the first leg 3-1 on Sunday, before picking a 3-0 win with Diana Estifanos netting a brace and Misgana Mehari scoring the other goal.

“I am happy to score two goals that have helped my team qualify for the next stage,” said Estifanos after the game watched by a fair crowd.

Eritrea will face Tanzania in the second round of the qualifiers that also have Kenya battling Uganda in another clash of teams from the same CECAFA region.

Three more rounds will be played, with two teams representing Africa in the 2022 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup to take place in Costa Rica.