Kenya’s 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.
The East African nation will first face Kyrgyzstan on June 3rd before taking on Palestine on June 6th. The two build-up matches come after Kenya participated in the FIFA Series in March.
Harambee Stars finished in third place at the FIFA Series campaign in Kigali, Rwanda. They achieved this by defeating Grenada 3-0 in their final match.
Kenya’s journey in the series saw them narrowly miss out on a place in the final following a penalty shootout defeat to Estonia on March 27th. The match had ended 1-1 in regulation time, forcing a direct penalty shootout, where Estonia edged out Kenya 5-4.
The two upcoming friendly matches are expected to offer the technical bench under coach Benni McCarthy another opportunity to assess the squad and continue building cohesion ahead of a busy competitive schedule.
Confirming the friendly matches, Football Kenya Federation (FKF) said in a statement: “Kenya will first face the Kyrgyzstan national team on June 3rd before taking on the Palestine national team on June 6th.”
FKF National Teams Coordinator Athanus Obala has welcomed the fixtures, noting their importance in the team’s preparations ahead of the AFCON 2027 to be co-hosted in East Africa alongside Uganda and Tanzania.
“These are nice build-up matches as we continue building up for the upcoming AFCON 2027 qualifiers,” said Obala.
“The games will give the technical bench a good opportunity to further assess the team and continue strengthening the squad.”
Know more about Kenya’s opponents
This will be the first time Kenya is playing against Kyrgyzstan and Palestine. In 1999, Kyrgyzstan played in the 2000 AFC Asian Cup qualification, but finished in last place in their group.
The team participated in the 2000 WAFF Championship, but again finished in last place. In 2001, Kyrgyzstan participated in the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification, but was eliminated in the first round after finishing third in their group.
In 2004, Kyrgyzstan participated in the second stage of the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification, but finished in fourth place in their group.
What about Palestine?
The team reached an all-time high position of 73rd in the FIFA ranking in February 2018, after going on a 12-match unbeaten streak from March 29th, 2016, to March 22nd, 2018.
Palestine’s main venue is Faisal Al-Husseini International Stadium in Al-Ram, although they have been forced to play in neutral stadiums for home matches on numerous occasions.
In 2024, Palestine recorded their first-ever Asian Cup victory and their first-ever qualification to the Asian Cup knockout stage after a 3-0 victory over Hong Kong in the 2023 AFC Asian Cup.
They ended up losing 2-1 to the hosts Qatar in the quarter-final despite taking the lead through Oday Dabbagh’s goal in the 37th minute.
Draw date set for AFCON 2027 qualifiers
The draw for the AFCON 2027 qualifiers will be conducted on Tuesday, May 19th at 15:00 local time (13:00 CET).
According to the Confederation of African Football (CAF), the qualifiers draw will be held at the Egyptian Football Association Headquarters in Cairo, Egypt.
The opening match of the AFCON 2027 will be played on Saturday, June 19th 2027, and the final on Saturday, July 17th. A total of 48 teams, including the three co-hosts, will participate in the qualifiers.
The draw will determine the pathway to the finals, with 24 teams set to secure qualification for Africa’s flagship football event. The qualifiers will be played across three windows in the FIFA international match calendar ahead of the finals.
The 48 teams will be drawn into 12 groups of four teams each. The top two teams in each group will qualify for the finals, while groups containing one of the co-hosts will see one additional team progress.
