Benni 'thrilled' ahead of Kenya debut

Yesterday at 07:00 AM

Kenya national team coach Benni McCarthy revealed his excitement at leading the Harambee Stars in their upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, beginning with a tie against Gambia at the Alassane Ouattara Ebimpé Olympic Stadium on Thursday, 20 March. Kick-off is at 9:00pm CAT.

The Harambee Stars stuttered during the opening exchanges of their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying bid and head into their next Group F assignment on the back of two consecutive draws against Burundi and Ivory Coast.

As it stands, Kenya occupy 4th spot in Group F and trail log leaders Ivory Coast by five points after four matches played.

With McCarthy taking the Kenya hotseat for the first time, the Bafana Bafana legend revealed that now is the time to 'embrace' challenges.

"I'm thrilled to lead my first two World Cup qualifiers. I'm eager to work with the talented squad I've selected for the campaign," McCarthy said.

There's plenty of hard work and dedication ahead, but we're ready to embrace the challenge as a team."

Gambia are likewise hoping to get back to winning ways in Group F after suffering a 3-2 loss against Gabon in their most recent qualifier.

The Scorpions are currently 5th in their Group and trail Kenya by two points heading into the game that will be played in the Ivory Coast.

Gambia coach Johnathan McKinstry recently had his say on Benni's appointment and thus expects Kenya to play an attacking brand of football.

"It's a new era in Kenyan Football," McKinstry said.

"Benni has obviously taken over recently and, historically, Benni's teams, if you look at his team's in South Africa whether it was AmaZulu, whether it was Cape Town City, his teams have historically wanted to press more, wanted to be more attacking, he was obviously an incredible footballer himself."