Harambee Stars coach admits tough choices ahead of Gambia World Cup Qualifier
By Kenneth Mwenda, September 1, 2025Harambee Stars head coach Benni McCarthy has admitted it was not easy to settle on the final squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against The Gambia and Seychelles.
Speaking on Monday, September 1, 2025, McCarthy said the strong performance of local-based players in the CHAN championship had made his job more difficult.
“The boys have done incredibly well and I was very tempted to almost select everybody, the whole CHAN squad to the internationals,” he said. “But I don’t think that would be fair on the European players, the players that play abroad.”
One of the biggest surprises was the omission of Gor Mahia forward Austin Odhiambo, who was joint-top scorer for Kenya at CHAN. McCarthy also left out Daniel Sakari, Siraj Mohammed, Chrispine Erambo and Massoud Juma.
At the same time, several foreign-based players were ruled out by injury.
“Marcelo, obviously as we know, he had a terrible injury in the last match, so he’s going to need an operation on his achilles,” McCarthy revealed.
“I spoke with the club representatives at St Mirren and to the player himself, so he was playing with injections until the break so that he can do his rehab properly. Nondi, exact same injury as Marcelo. Okumu, we know he had a ligament rupture for his club.”
Onyango call-up deferred
The coach also confirmed that Everton youngster Tyler Onyango had been contacted, but it was not the right moment to bring him in.
“Tyler Onyango is a player also that we reached out, we reached out to Everton to get us some information and if the player would be willing to come and play for Kenya,” McCarthy said.
“They spoke to his parents and they showed their desire for him to play for Kenya. But I think it was the timing and the time that we had wasn’t on our side. You have to make the tough decisions and those are the reasons why you see the players that are here.”
The final squad blends 13 CHAN players with experienced internationals, including captain Michael Olunga, Collins Sichenje and Richard Odada. Rising star Job Ochieng received his first call-up.
Kenya is set to face back-to-back ties against The Gambia and Seychelles, with Friday, September 5, 2025. The team sit fourth in their World Cup qualifying group with six points, behind Ivory Coast, Gabon and Burundi. McCarthy knows the double-header at Kasarani will be decisive.
“I’m proud of everyone,” he said. “We have a good league that just needs to be supported in all the necessary departments so that we can even produce more and better players.”