Harambee Stars To Play Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan in June
The Kenyan national football team, Harambee Stars, will return to action during the June international window with two build-up matches lined up in Central Asia as preparations continue for the upcoming AFCON 2027 qualifiers.
Currently ranked 111th globally, the Stars are looking to use these high-stakes fixtures to climb further up the FIFA standings after recently jumping two places. The team scheduled their opening encounter against the Kyrgyzstan national football team, currently ranked 107th, on June 3 before taking on the Palestine national football team, ranked 95th, on June 6.
Strategic Cohesion and Squad Assessment
These international fixtures serve a vital purpose for the technical bench beyond just the final score. Coaches intend to utilize this window to evaluate player fitness, test technical combinations, and refine tactical frameworks against diverse playing styles from Central Asia and the Middle East. The two matches are expected to offer the technical bench another opportunity to assess the squad and continue building cohesion ahead of a busy competitive schedule.
Management views these fixtures as essential building blocks for long-term international success. Strategic planning remains key to establishing a sustainable football ecosystem capable of competing against Africa’s elite. National Teams Coordinator Athanus Obala welcomed the fixtures, noting their importance in the team’s preparations.
“These are nice build-up matches as we continue building up for the upcoming AFCON 2027 qualifiers. The games will give the technical bench a good opportunity to further assess the team and continue strengthening the squad,” said Obala.
Roadmap to AFCON 2027
It will be the team’s second international friendly this year after a fruitful outing at the Fifa Global Series in Kigali in March. On that occasion, Stars bagged bronze in the four-team tourney after beating Grenada 3-0 in the third-place playoff, a result that helped push their FIFA ranking to its current position. A few days earlier, they had narrowly lost to Estonia via post match penalties.
Most importantly, the latest round of friendlies provide McCarthy with an opportunity to assess and rejig his team in readiness for next year’s Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon), which Kenya will co-host with Uganda and Tanzania.
Harambee Stars head coach Benni McCarthy has actively scouted talent across multiple continents to reinforce the current squad profile. The South African has been on a worldwide trip to scout and convince a number of foreign-born players to sign up for his project to transform Kenya into a formidable side.
In view of the upcoming friendlies, a number of new faces may well grace the national team as McCarthy employs a method that has been tried by his peers in Morocco, Algeria, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to varied degrees of success.
