As Kenya’s Harambee Stars shift their attention to the 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifiers, coach Benni McCarthy has revealed that up to 15 players from his 2024 African Nations Championship (Chan) squad will graduate to the core team. 

Kenya’s fairy tale run in the tournament ended on Friday evening after a bitter 4-3 quarter-finals loss to Madagascar on post-match penalties at the 48,000-seater Moi International Sports Centre (MISC) Kasarani in Nairobi.

Th two teams had tied 1-1 at the end of regular time and extra time. Defender Alphonce Omija fired Kenya ahead in the 48th minute with a towering header but Madagascar equalised in the 69th minute when forward Fenohasina Gilles Razafimaro converted from the penalty spot. 

Chan is a biennial football tournament which is exclusively reserved for players featuring in their respective domestic leagues.  Kenya are co-hosting the eighth Chan edition with Uganda and Tanzania. 

Drawn in Group ‘F’ of the 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifiers, hosts Kenya will face both Gambia and Seychelles on September 5 and 10 respectively. Both matches will take place at MISC, Kasarani. 

After playing six matches, African giants Cote d’Ivoire top the pool with 16 points, one more than second-placed Gabon. 

Burundi, Kenya, Gambia and Seychelles follow in that order with 10, six, four and zero points respectively. Speaking after Friday’s loss against Madagascar, McCarthy said he was impressed by several players in the team thus he will reward them with a call-up to Kenya’s main team.

“There will be quite a lot of these players on the international stage because I think they deserve it,”  the South African football legend said on Friday.

“They have worked exceptionally hard, and there is some really good quality and good potential going forward, so between 10 and 15 players from the squad will move up,” he added. 

With only the winner of each group securing a direct ticket to the 2026 Fifa World Cup to be co-hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States of America, McCarthy admitted that Kenya stands no chance of qualifying for the prestigious global showpiece. Nevertheless, the former Porto and West Ham United striker said they will look to register strong performances in the matches against Gambia and Seychelles. 

“Regarding World Cup qualifiers, it is (realistically) almost an impossible task for us to qualify, so you might as well prepare the player for a higher stage because they have done exceptionally well in Chan and now I think stepping up for them might do them good. We go out and be competitive against Gambia and Seychelles but I think these players did themselves good with the performance they have given me and the rest of the country,” said the former Manchester United first-team forwards coach. 

Goalkeeper Byrne Omondi, defenders Michael Kibwage, Sylvester Owino, Alphonce Omija and Mohammed Siraj, midfielders Austine Odhiambo, Alpha Onyango, Suleiman Manzur and Boniface Muchiri and striker Ryan Ogam are some of the player who impressed in the tournament.

Both Austine Odhiambo and Ogam scored two goals each. Ogam was named man of the match against Zambia. 

Alpha scooped the gong twice – against DRC and Madagascar while Byrne won it once – in the match against Morocco. 

In the six matches that Kenya have played in 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifiers, they have won one, drawn three and lost two. Kenya hammered Seychelles 5-0 and lost 2-1 to Gabon in both legs of the match. Harambee Stars drew 1-1 against Burundi, 0-0 against Cote d’Ivoire and 3-3 against Gambia. 

Apart from the group leaders, the winner in Fifa’s intercontinental play-off will qualify for the World Cup. Four best runners-up across the groups will advance to CAF play-off tournament whose winner will play in Fifa’s intercontinental play-off.