McCarthy maintains faith in Harambee Stars qualifying for 2026 FIFA World Cup
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Reading Time: 2min | Fri. 05.09.25. | 07:52
Kenya, as it stands, are one result away from seeing their fading 2026 FIFA World Cup hopes hit a dead end
Harambee Stars head coach Benni McCarthy, though aware of the slim chances Kenya possesses in achieving qualification to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, is expecting his side to battle hard in their Friday, 5 September clash against The Gambia at Kasarani Stadium.
Placed fourth in Group F, Kenya are just one result away from waving away their World Cup qualification hopes, a prospect that McCarthy does not believe should stand in his team’s way.
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“Our intention is to really give everything and take every match at a time - doing the best that we possibly can to try and collect maximum points,” McCarthy said of his team’s meeting with The Scorpions, which kicks off at 1600 (EAT).
Harambee Stars’ hopes of qualification, if any, stand in themselves winning all their last four fixtures, and crossing their fingers over the rest of the teams, bar Gabon, who lead the table with 18 points, tripping themselves up.
Crazier things have happened in the past, and McCarthy did his best in creating better scenarios that would suit his team's chances.
“You never know, FIFA might come up with something and one team gets disqualified, and we get that pass through into the playoffs,” McCarthy said with a smile.
“Everything is possible, and we do not want to take it for granted. For our sake, we play every game like it's the last one, and see how things pan out with other teams.
They might lose points along the way, and we just sneak in right at the death. That possibility is in the back of our minds”
Team skipper Michael Olunga is of a similar mindset, and other than achieving World Cup qualification, believes Friday’s match has more than just points on the board.
“We, of course, want to fight hard until the last group game, but apart from that, we have to build a team for the upcoming assignments as well,” the striker said.
“For our FIFA ranking, we also have to compete fairly, and get the results that will put us in a better place in the pooling for our next competitions.”
Comparing Friday’s meet up with the away first-leg in March, Olunga said: “The first game I think showed us that they are very compact and very difficult to break.
We, however, believe that the squad we have assembled now is good enough to go out there and pick the maximum points.”
