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McCarthy eyes first win as Kenya face Chad in friendly rematch

Harambee Stars midfielder Adam Wilson (right) tussles for the ball with Chad's Haroun Abakar (left) during their international friendly match played at Marrakech Stadium in Morocco on June 7, 2025. 
 

Photo credit: Pool | FKF

By  Victor Otieno

Reporter

NMG Sport

What you need to know:

  • The squad is predominantly made up of locally-based players, with only four foreign-based inclusions: goalkeeper Brian Bwire (Polokwane City FC, South Africa), veteran defender Brian Mandela (Stellenbosch FC, South Africa), and midfielders Adam Wilson (The New Saints FC, England) and Lenkupae (Central Coast Mariners FC, Australia).
  • In his first two matches in charge, McCarthy oversaw a 3-3 draw away to Gambia and a 2-1 home loss to Gabon in Group 'F' of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

All eyes will be on Harambee Stars Tuesday evening as they take on Chad in their second international friendly match, following a goalless draw on Saturday.

The match will be staged at Marrakech Stadium in Morocco—the same venue that hosted their first friendly—and is set to kick off at 6pm Kenyan time.

Coached by South African Benni McCarthy, Harambee Stars are under pressure to bounce back from their underwhelming performance against Les Sao over the weekend. McCarthy, appointed on March 3, is also seeking his first win as Kenya's head coach.

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The two friendly matches are part of Kenya’s preparations for the delayed 2024 African Nations Championship (CHAN), which the country will co-host with Uganda and Tanzania from August 2 to 30.

Kenyan fans were left disappointed after Harambee Stars failed to beat the lower-ranked Chad. According to the latest FIFA rankings, Kenya sit 111th, while Chad are ranked 177th.

“We struggle with teams with very low FIFA rankings,” lamented @ormauwai on X (formerly Twitter).

“Harambee Stars should win Chad easily,” posted Antony Muhuma on the same platform.

“We are playing some nice football. We need to improve on our finishing though and add a little bit of intensity into our game,” shared @austo_32.

McCarthy calls for ruthlessness after goalless draw with Chad

McCarthy has acknowledged the need for better finishing and more aggression, and he’ll be hoping to see improvement in both areas.

In Saturday’s draw, Kenya dominated possession but failed to convert their chances.

“But I think when you dominate a match like this, you obviously have to be very disappointed that you didn’t win, that you didn’t score goals,” said McCarthy, a former Manchester United forwards coach.

Australian-based midfielder, William Lenkupae, was Kenya’s unluckiest player in front of goal and is expected to feature again.

McCarthy is likely to make changes to his starting 11 as he looks to secure a win and evaluate all players in his 23-man squad.

The squad is predominantly made up of locally-based players, with only four foreign-based inclusions: goalkeeper Brian Bwire (Polokwane City FC, South Africa), veteran defender Brian Mandela (Stellenbosch FC, South Africa), and midfielders Adam Wilson (The New Saints FC, England) and Lenkupae (Central Coast Mariners FC, Australia).

In his first two matches in charge, McCarthy oversaw a 3-3 draw away to Gambia and a 2-1 home loss to Gabon in Group 'F' of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.