- The Gambia vs Kenya match will kick off at 10 PM EAT on Thursday.
- The game will take place at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium in Ivory Coast because Gambia does not have a stadium that is approved by CAF at the moment.
- The Gambia clash will mark head coach Benni McCarthy’s first game in charge.
The stage is set for a colossal 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier tie between Kenya’s Harambee Stars and Gambia on Thursday night.
Harambee Stars will be looking to beat the hosts and increase their chances of booking a ticket to next year’s world cup that is scheduled to take place in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
However, a win will not come easy for the Kenya national men’s football team since they face a Gambian side that has improved a lot since the appointment of Johnathan McKinstry.
The new look squad traveled to Ivory Coast on Tuesday via a chartered plane, a move that Captain Michael Olunga lauded.
As stated by the Qatar based attacker, the new Football Kenya Federation (FKF) has put the welfare of Harambee Stars players first.
“We just have to give out our best (against Gambia). Of course, it is a new start, a new federation, a new coach and dynamics are quite different. We have to be patient with the team.
We embark our journey to Ivory Coast on a chartered plane, the players’ welfare is being taken care of starting from our able vice president McDonald Mariga who was part of this team for the longest time,” commented Olunga.
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Olunga, whose football talent was nurtured at Liberty Sports Academy, will have to lead from the front on Thursday to ensure Kenya overcomes Gambia.
Speaking ahead of the encounter, Harambee Stars head coach Benni McCarthy stated that they are not going to underrate their opponents.
According to McCarthy, Gambia’s head coach has worked with some of the Kenyan players before at the club level hence he knows them very well. Nonetheless, the 47-year-old backed his charges to triumph in the match.
“We prepare our way and deal with the threats that they have but it is a team that we must respect. And even more so, the coach knows a lot of Kenyan players because he used to be a coach in the Kenyan league for one of the top teams in Kenya.
So, he is very much aware about the threats that the team uses, but like I said, this team is going to have the passion, desire and the will power to win football matches. We hope the best team will win,” he explained.
Gambia vs Kenya head-to-head
This will be the first match between Gambia and Kenya who sit fourth and fifth respectively in Group F in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
The two nations have already played four matches each in the group that also has the likes of Ivory Coast, Burundi and Gabon with Harambee Stars picking up two draws and a win. On the other hand, Gambia has only registered a single win.
Where to watch the Gambia vs Kenya fixture
Football fans can watch the highly anticipated Gambia vs Kenya game on the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) television from 10 PM East African Time (EAT). Moreover, the clash is expected to be aired on SuperSport.
Gambia vs Kenya Prediction
The match is predicted to be a close call between the two sides with the match likely to be settled in a very low-scoring affair.
