Harambee Stars, who will be seeking a seventh appearance in Africa’s premier competition, have been pooled in Group J alongside Zimbabwe, Namibia and giants Cameroon.
When is the game between Kenya and Zimbabwe?
Initially, the fixture was among the opening five matches lined up for Wednesday, September 4th. However, the Group J match has now been rescheduled to Friday, September 6th, and will be staged at Stade Mandela National Stadium in Uganda, with kick-off at 15:00 CET.
The changes to the Harambee Stars fixture mean only four matches will be played on the opening day of the qualifiers on Wednesday, September 4th.
Libya will take on Rwanda in their Group D opener at 18:00 CET, Sudan will host Niger in a Group F clash at Juba Stadium (kick-off 15:00 CET), Comoros will be at home against the Gambia in a Group A duel at Stade El Abdi (kick-off 17:00 CET), while Tanzania will face Ethiopia in a Group H contest at Benjamin Mkapa Stadium (kick-off 18:00 CET).
Harambee Stars and Zimbabwe have already arrived in Uganda for their fixture on Friday.
Where can you watch the game on TV?
With the game kicking off at 15:00 CET, no TV channel in Kenya has secured rights to air the fixture. However, the fixture will be live on SuperSport.
What have the coaches said?
Harambee Stars head coach Engin Firat is confident of a positive start despite his side missing a host of key players owing to injuries.
Daniel Anyembe (26), who plays as a right-back for Danish Superliga club Viborg FF, Bristol City defender Zak Vyner (27), and Collins Sichenje (20), who features for Serbian SuperLiga club Vojvodina, have all been ruled out of the game.
Meanwhile, lead striker and captain Michael Olunga (30), who plays for Al Duhail SC in the Qatar Stars League, is doubtful for the game after picking an injury while playing for his side in the Gulf nation.
Striker Masoud Juma (28), who turns out for Saudi Arabian Division One side Al Jabalain and winger Ayub Timbe (31), are long-term absentees and did not make the travelling squad to Uganda.
“I don’t know when I will ever play with my full squad, I don’t know when I will ever have my full squad during matchday, I don’t understand why these always happen during FIFA matchdays (key players having injuries), it is something I have never understood but we must work with what we have in camp,” Firat told Flashscore.
“We will work our way and use what we have, and it is the opening fixture of the group which we must win, it is good to start with victory and being the home team means we must get maximum points, we are ready to put our efforts together and get the best result from the game.”
Firat continued: “We want to qualify for the AFCON, it is a mission we want to achieve and we must make sure we start off well, the first game means a lot, a win will psyche the players heading into our second fixture against Namibia and we don’t want a faulty start.”
Should Olunga fail to recover, Firat will have John Avire (27), Jonah Ayunga (27), Benson Omalla (22), and Victor Omune (31) to pick from his striking force.
Despite Olunga’s match fitness concerns, Omalla, who won the Golden Boot award after notching 19 goals in last season’s FKF Premier League for Gor Mahia, is confident they have what it takes to win the opener.
“I feel when we have the entire group, we will be ready, our previous matches in World Cup qualifiers have helped us to raise our confidence, it is very high and we are ready for the Zimbabwe game,” Omalla told Flashscore.
“The two matches against Zimbabwe and Namibia are very vital because the last time we played AFCON was in 2019 and we want to qualify, and the group we are in is not easy, we must fight to win our matches and I am confident we will qualify for the AFCON.”
Omalla, who recently ditched Gor Mahia for Al Safa FC in Lebanon continued: “We have a good chance to qualify, we have good players, we have the required support from the fans, all we need is to raise our game, it will be very important to win our first two games, it will raise our confidence to face Cameroon.”
On playing matches away from home, the former Western Stima striker said: “Of course, we are playing at home but away from home, but we don’t have to discuss that now because the focus is to win against Zimbabwe.”
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe will miss the services of EFL Championship club Plymouth Argyle defender Brendan Galloway (28), who has been ruled out owing to injury.
However, the Warriors have been boosted by the return of winger Khama Billiat (34). Billiat, who plays for Yadah Stars, announced his retirement from football and was immediately drafted into the Zimbabwe squad for the AFCON opener.
“I feel I still have something to give to Zimbabwean football, both locally and internationally. I have reflected deeply, and I am convinced there is one chapter that remains unfinished between Khama Billiat and the Zimbabwe national football team,” Billiat posted on his social media pages after his decision to return to the Zimbabwe squad.
“I have reconsidered my decision to retire and would love to represent my country one more time. I will continue to work hard on the field and hopefully help the nation in a positive way. I love my country and stand ready to serve if given the chance.”
Zimbabwe coach Michael Nees (57) believes his troops are now focused on taking on Kenya. “First of all, we thank God to be here in Uganda, the weather conditions are extremely good, I am sure the training pitch is one of the best in the whole of Africa and we appreciate the support we got, really we cannot complain and we thank FUFA for that,” Nees told Zimbabwe Media.
“Our first training was not intense because we only arrived, we had a long stopover in Nairobi, but our focus is already towards the game, we want to increase the intensity and get ready, we are satisfied and it gives us a great chance to start well.”
The last four meetings in all competitions have seen Kenya beat Zimbabwe on three occasions and draw once. In 2008, Kenya were pitted against Zimbabwe in the World Cup qualifiers, the East African nation emerged 2-0 winners in the first meeting before drawing 0-0 in the reverse fixture in Harare.
On March 26th, Kenya came up against Zimbabwe in the final of the Four Nations tournament at the Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe, Malawi, and they emerged winners after a 3-0 victory courtesy of an Olunga hat-trick.
On July 2nd, Kenya featured in the 2024 edition of the COSAFA Cup as a guest team and they were pooled alongside Zimbabwe. Kenya won the game 2-0 but failed to qualify for the quarter-finals.
