Harambee Stars victory away to Qatar excites head Coach Engin Firat

The head coach of Kenya’s national team, Engin Firat has said he is happy with the performance of his team when they defeated Qatar in an international friendly match on Wednesday.

Harambee Stars silenced the 2022 FIFA World Cup hosts 2-1 in a match played at the Al-Janoub Stadium in Al-Wakrah, south of Doha.

Joseph Okumu gave Kenya the lead after 20 minutes, but Qatar’s skipper Hassan Al-Haydos leveled matters 14 minutes later to send the crowd wild. The two sides continued to create scoring opportunities, but it was Harambee Stars who made it count when substitute Amos Nondi capitalised on a Micheal Olunga’s run to score the winning goal in stoppage time.

” Winning against an experienced team like Qatar is a good boost for us because the target now is to prepare for the World Cup qualifiers which will start soon. The players expressed themselves well and I am happy that we gave some young players opportunity as well, ” added the Kenya coach Firat.

The Harambee Stars team will return to Nairobi where they will hosts South Sudan in another international friendly match on September 12th.

Kenya only returned to International football few months ago after FIFA lifted a ban on the Federation. The national team also missed playing in the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2023 qualifiers because of the ban.

For the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers Kenya has been drawn in Group F alongside  Seychelles, Burundi, Gambia, Gabon and Côte d’Ivoire.

The winners of each group will directly qualify for the tournament. Additionally, the four best runners-up from the groups will advance to the CAF play-off tournament, whose winner shall secure a spot in the 2026 global showpiece.