Kenya head coach Benni McCarthy has admitted that the Harambee Stars face a difficult challenge in their 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
Kenya will host the 2027 AFCON alongside Uganda and Tanzania and have therefore already secured their place at the tournament. However, they will still participate in the qualifiers, with only the winner of their group advancing through the qualification process.
McCarthy, who took charge of Kenya earlier this year, acknowledged the challenge posed by South Africa, who are among the more established teams on the continent and recently appointed Pitso Mosimane as their new head coach.
“It’s gonna be difficult because South Africa has always been seen as a class A category, they always in the pot with Morocco, Senegal, so they get the good draws, teams like Kenya in the lower end, so that will be very difficult,” McCarthy said.
The former Bafana Bafana striker also highlighted Guinea as another major obstacle, pointing to the quality available to their opponents, including Borussia Dortmund forward Serhou Guirassy.
Guinea have regularly featured in major international competitions and boast a squad with considerable experience at club and international level.
“I think Guinea also have super power in their players like Guirassy, they have a strong team, established and participated in major tournaments more than us, they have more experience,” he added.
Despite recognising the quality within the group, McCarthy believes Kenya can draw confidence from their recent experiences in the African Nations Championship (CHAN) and 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
The Harambee Stars have faced some of the continent’s leading nations during that period, including Ivory Coast and Gabon, while also having to negotiate difficult away environments such as Burundi.
McCarthy believes those experiences have helped Kenya close the gap and develop greater resilience ahead of the AFCON campaign.
“But like I said, listen, what we experienced in CHAN and World Cup qualifiers,” he continued.
“We played teams like Ivory Coast, Gabon, in Burundi where it was very hostile and we held our own, it was valuable experience that we gained, it might not have been wins, but I think from where we started to where we finished, we have grown.”