Harambee Stars head coach Benni McCarthy has given an injury update on three key players as the Kenya national senior men’s football team touched down in Bujumbura on Tuesday, October 7, 2025, for the second last fixture of the 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers.

Kenya will face Burundi on Thursday, October 9, 2025 and the Ivory Coast on Tuesday, October 14, 2025, in Group F of the World Cup Qualifiers, with both matches to be played away. Ahead of the particular fixtures, Winger Rooney Onyango, captain Michael Olunga and Gor Mahia Midfielder Alpha Onyango are among the three players that Benni McCarthy has said have injury issues.

”There are some slight injury problems, but hopefully, before Thursday’s match, we will have assessed and see the extent. Rooney Onyango was one of them. He was struggling with a little problem at his club, but he has been checked. We will monitor him during the training sessions,” the Harambee Stars tactician noted on Tuesday, October 7, 2025.

”The captain also had some concerns, a little bit with the hamstring, but we will also monitor him when we get closer to the game on Thursday. The third one was Alpha, he came off in the last game with Gor Mahia, so we will check them during the training sessions and how to manage them, but everyone else is 100 per cent fit and we are looking good for the next two games,” McCarthy added.

Meanwhile, Benni McCarthy has unveiled a 24-man squad for the assignments. Kenya currently sits fourth in Group F with nine points from eight games, aiming to end the campaign positively despite slim prospects of qualification.

Harambee Stars WCQ squad

Goalkeepers: Faruk Shikhalo (Bandari FC), Brian Bwire (Polokwane City), and Byrne Omondi (Gor Mahia).

Defenders: Manzur Okwaro (Nairobi United), Vincent Harper (Walsall), Sylvester Owijno (Gor Mahia), Alphonse Omjia (E.S. Du Sahel), Collins Sichenje (Vojvodina), Michael Kibwage (Gor Mahia), Ronney Onyango (Sogndal), Abud Omar (Kenya Police), and Daniel Sakari (Kenya Police).

Midfielders: Alpha Onyango (Gor Mahia), Duke Abuya (Yanga), Timothy Ouma (Lech Poznan), Ben Stanley (Gor Mahia), Marvin Nabwire (Kenya Police), and Austine Odhiambo (Gor Mahia).William Lenkupae (VPS), Job Ochieng (Real Sociedad), and Boniface Muchiri (Ulinzi Stars).

Strikers: Michael Olunga (Al-Arabi), Ryan Ogam (Wolfsberger AC), and Lawrence Okoth (SJK Seinajoki)