The immediate goal for the Senior Men’s National Team (Sihlangu) was to qualify for the group stages of the TotalEnergies 2023 AFCON Qualifiers. This goal was achieved after Sihlangu won both the home and away matches against Somalia in the preliminary round of the qualifiers.
On Wednesday, 23rd March 2022, the Eswatini won against Somalia by 3-0 in a match that was played in Tanzania. Sihlangu goals were scored by Bonginkosi Dlamini, Fanelo Mamba and Sandile Gamedze. Both national teams were in action again in four days’ time and this match was played at the Mbombela Stadium in South Africa. Sihlangu won by 2-1 and the national team scored by Sabelo Ndzinisa and Fanelo Mamba. Somalia scored through Sakariya Hassan. This made the aggregate score to be 5-1 in favour of Eswatini.
Sihlangu will know more about the future in the competition after the implementation of the TotalEfnergies 2023 Qualifier’s group stage draw by CAF in a date yet to be announced. A total of fourty-eight national teams will compete for a place in next year’s finals to be hosted by Ivory Coast in June/July 2023.