Harambee Stars defender Erick Marcelo Ouma’s Polish club, Rakow Czestochowa, has secured qualification to the UEFA Conference League competition for the 2025/26 season.

The Polish side was among the 36 teams confirmed in the final league phase draw for the 2025/26 competition, which was done in Monaco on Friday, August 29, 2025.

Rakow, who fell just short of clinching the Polish league title, finishing second to champions Lech Poznan, who topped the season on 70 points, achieved the feat by wading through a gruesome qualification process.

They, however, earned their place in the group with a Friday, August 28, 2025, 2-1 win over Arda Kyrdzal from Bulgaria.

We did it!

“MEDALS, WE DID IT TOGETHER! Thank you for your support during all the eliminations. We will still have the opportunity to fight together for further successes in European cups,” the club reacted to achieving qualification.

The victory was sealed with a brace from Peter Barath, wrapping up a convincing 3-1 aggregate win for the Polish team.

Ouma’s Lech Poznan in

Also joining Ouma in the Conference League phase is Kenyan international Timothy Noor Ouma, who is on loan at Lech Poznan from Slavia Prague.

Nicknamed Babu, Ouma marked his start in Poznan with a win over the Belgium side, Genk, to join Rakow among the teams in the Europa League.

The competitions’ league phase ties will run between October 2, 2025, and December 18, 2025, with each team facing off in six games.

The 2025/26 Conference League final will be held at RB Arena in Leipzig, Germany, on Wednesday, 27 May 2026.

Lech Poznan’s Ouma is among the 23 players included in the Harambee Stars team for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers for the Harambee Stars team, with Marcello missing out through injury.

Ouma, who featured in Kenya’s last round of qualifiers against Gambia, earned the nod of Benni McCarthy ahead of the back-to-back clashes against Seychelles and The Gambia.

As part of its quest for a maiden World Cup qualification, Kenya is set to host two clashes at home.

Back-to-back WC ties

The first tie will see the team face off against The Gambia on Friday, September 5, 2025.

Kenya will then face Seychelles four days later on Tuesday, September 9, 2025.