The men’s national football team, Harambee Stars, will not be making their return to the next edition of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament set to be held in Morocco from 21 December 2025 to 18 January 2026.
This is after they were held to a costly 1-1 draw against Zimbabwe in their Group J AFCON 2025 qualifying match played at the New Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane, South Africa on Friday night.
Needing nothing short of three points to at least habour any hopes of making a first appearance in the continental showpiece since 2019, Kenya saw their dreams go up in smoke as the result meant they could mathematically not topple Zimbabwe from second position with only one match left.
The shared spoils meant that Zimbabwe moved to 9 points behind leaders Cameroon (11) while Kenya stayed third on 5 points with a maximum of only three points left.
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Ahead of kickoff, head coach Engin Firat made a surprising decision to start without an out-and-out creative midfielder as he selected Erick ‘Marcelo’ Ouma and Ronney Onyango on the wings.
Amos Nondi, who has mostly been deployed on the flanks for the national team, operated alongside Anthony Akumu in midfield as Joseph Okumu, Johnstone Omurwa, Daniel Anyembe and Abud Omar marshalled the defence as Michael Olunga and Jonah Ayunga formed the striking partnership.
Kenya bossed possession in the early exchanges but there was just a missing link between attack and defense as there was no player to connect the two.
Kenya’s tactic was moving the ball from the back to the wingers who were in turn expected to pump in crosses into the box for the towering Olunga and Ayunga to attack.
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However, that tactic failed to work either due to poor crossing or the Zimbabwean defence staying alert on most occasions.
Kenya had the first chance on goal in the ninth minute but Ouma’s delivery from a free kick was cleared off the line by Munashe Garanaga who appeared to have gotten the help of his hands.
Just five minutes later, the Zimbabweans had their first threatening chance but Johnstone Omurwa’s full-blooded tackle kept the deadlock intact.
Ronney Onyango got the clearest chance of the game in the 32nd minute after wriggling his way past his markers with some neat footwork but his finishing left a lot to desire as he blazed over without any pressure.
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That chance came to haunt Kenya as Zimbabwe launched a quick counterattack that ended with Tawanda Maswanhisewith finding the back of the net with a low shot across Bryne Omondi in the Kenyan goal to break the deadlock very much against the run of play.
They would hold that slim advantage into the break but saw that lead wiped out seven minutes into the second half when Ouma’s low cross was not dealt with properly as Ayunga poked into the back of the net for his first goal in national team colours.
The goal coincided with Duke Abuya’s introduction just two minutes earlier in place of Omar.
While Kenya applied even more pressure in a desperate search for the winning goal, Zimbabwe hit on the counter and almost stole a goal but Bryne pulled two brilliant saves to give Kenya a fighting chance which was not to be as the game ended in the draw that sealed Zimbabwe’s spot in the AFCON 2025.
Harambee Stars miss AFCON 2025 ticket
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