Kenya’s Harambee Stars aims to shock global community in World Cup qualifiers
By Dennis Mabuka, July 5, 2023Kenya’s Harambee Stars have been placed in Pot 3 ahead of the final draw for the African zone of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
The drawing board released by the world governing body FIFA has Kenya under coach Engin Firat, in the same pot alongside neighbours Uganda, Angola, Benin, Mauritania, Congo, Madagascar, Guinea Bissau, and Namibia.
Additionally, Rwanda’s Amavubi have been placed in Pot 5 alongside Burundi, Comoros, Niger, Botswana, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eswatini, and Liberia, whereas Tanzania are in Pot 4 with Mozambique, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Togo, Zimbabwe, the Central African Republic, Malawi, and Libya.
Two countries from the same Pot cannot be in the same Group for the final qualifiers, as there will be one team from each of the pots to form a group. The final draw for the Group stages of the CAF region for the 2026 World Cup will be held in Zurich on July 12.
Harambee Stars will be making a comeback after a recent FIFA ban that saw them disqualified from the ongoing 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers. Since the ban was lifted, Kenya have participated in two FIFA international breaks, the first playing a friendly against Libya, which they lost 2-1 away in Tripoli.
In the last break, they toured Mauritius for a Four-Nation tournament, where they finished with three points, after beating Pakistan 1-0 and losing by a similar margin to lowly ranked Mauritius.
Pot 1: Nigeria, Morocco, Senegal, Algeria, Tunisia, Cameroon, and Mali
Pot 2: Ghana, Burkina Faso, South Africa, Cape Verde, DR Congo, Guinea, Zambia, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea
Pot 3: Angola, Benin, Kenya, Mauritania, Congo, Uganda, Madagascar, Guinea Bissau, Namibia
Pot 4: Mozambique, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Togo, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Central African Republic, Malawi, Libya
Pot 5: Niger, Comoros, Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia, Eswatini, Botswana, Liberia
Pot 6: Lesotho, South Sudan, Mauritius, Chad, Sao Tome, Djibouti, Seychelles, Eritrea, Somalia