After a rather good start to their campaign to qualify for a seventh appearance at the 35th edition of the tournament, Kenya’s chances took a nose dive after losing back-to-back matches against five-time African champions Cameroon.
Kenya kicked off their qualification campaign in Group J with a 0-0 draw against Zimbabwe before beating Namibia 2-1. The outcome from the two openers saw the East African nation sit at the top of their group with four points, the same as Cameroon, while Zimbabwe were third with two points and Namibia last without a single point.
However, heading into matchday three and four, things turned upside down for the Firat-led side. They had to navigate two fixtures against the Indomitable Lions. Their first match was away and played at Japoma Stadium in Douala where Kenya suffered a humiliating 4-1 defeat with lead striker Michael Olunga, scoring the consolation goal.
Harambee Stars returned to Kampala, for their 'home fixture' at the Stade Nelson Mandela Stadium, hoping to avenge the first-round meeting defeat and revive their qualification hopes, but it was not the case as they suffered a 1-0 setback courtesy of substitute Boris Enow’s sublime free-kick in the 63rd minute.
While Kenya had lost their two matches, Zimbabwe, who were in second heading into matchday three and four, picked up two straight wins against Namibia. In the first meeting at Orlando Stadium in South Africa, the Warriors edged out the Brave Warriors 1-0.
The two sides met again three days later at the same venue, and Zimbabwe smashed Namibia 3-1, Wilson Musonda notching a hat-trick while Young Africans forward Prince Dube sealed the emphatic victory after coming on as a substitute.
Firat admits AFCON ticket out of Kenya’s hands
The former Moldova tactician, whose prime target at the start of the qualifiers was to help Harambee Stars qualify for the African tournament, has admitted the qualification campaign is not in “our hands for now” and called on Kenyans to pray for the team to win their remaining matches.
“I want to ask Kenyans around the country to pray for us, the qualification campaign is not in our hands now but we cannot give up at this stage, we will continue to fight for the ticket until the end of the group matches in November,” Firat told Flashscore.
“At the beginning of the qualifiers our target was not to be where we are, but the reality is we cannot change anything, it is what it is, we had set the target to qualify and the target is still there, we will fight to win our remaining two matches, and wait to see what happens in the other matches, it is a tough situation but I know my players are fighters and with the support of the fans, we will try to achieve the ticket.”
Firat admitted Zimbabwe's two wins against Namibia coupled with Kenya's disastrous outing against Cameroon had complicated matters for the East African nation.
“With Zimbabwe beating Namibia again it put our qualification hopes in a tight corner, but one thing I have told my players is we need to focus and get a positive outcome in the remaining matches against Zimbabwe and Namibia,” explained Firat.
“At the start of the campaign, no one thought that Namibia will lose every match in the qualifiers, they had participated in the AFCON in January, and everybody knew they will be among the teams fighting for the ticket, but now it is not what everybody thought about our group, and it is the reason we don’t want to give up now.”
Firat blasts Cameroon for time-wasting antics
The Turk took issues with the Indomitable Lions’s style of play especially after they took the lead through a free-kick in Kampala.
“It's one of the performances that when you look at it again, we deserved something positive from the game, I feel gutted that we ended up losing, but I am happy the players responded and played better than they did in Cameroon,” explained Firat.
“Kenya was the most dominant side in the first half but we failed to take our chances, and there is nothing to do, the reality is we put Cameroon under pressure but came out without nothing, which is not what we wanted.”
Firat continued: “After taking the lead, Cameroon decided to sit back, they never played beyond their own half, they decided to try waste time, but again there is nothing we could do, my boys did the job I told them to do, but the result does not reflect the efforts they put in.”
During the fixture in Kampala, Firat made changes to the starting XI with goalkeeper Patrick Matasi, who had a calamitous display against the Indomitable Lions in Douala, dropping to the bench with Bandari custodian Bryne Omondi coming in between the sticks.
Reims defender Joseph Okumu, who came in as a substitute in Douala, started in the defence alongside Johnstone Omurwa, Daniel Anyembe and Erick ‘Marcelo’ Ouma while Anthony Akumu, Richard Odada and Duke Abuya took up the midfield role.
Olunga, who scored the lone goal in Cameroon, led the striking alongside John Avire, the scorer of Kenya’s goal in the 2-1 win against Namibia, while Rooney Onyango played behind the two forwards.
The outcome of the last two matches saw Cameroon cement their top spot in Group J with 10 points, Zimbabwe, who beat Namibia 3-1, moved to second above Kenya with eight points. Kenya remained third on four while Namibia are last on the pile without a point.
Kenya will face Zimbabwe away on November 11th before winding up their group fixtures against Namibia on November 19th.
As of now, eight nations have guaranteed their place in the AFCON tournament set for between December 21st, 2025 and January 18th, 2026. They are led by Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Morocco, Senegal, DR Congo, Egypt, Uganda and Algeria.
