Kenya’s national football team Harambee Stars head coach Benni McCarthy is to rival his home country, South Africa, after Kenya was drawn against Bafana Bafana in the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers.
The draw, conducted on Tuesday, 19 May, at the headquarters of the Egyptian Football Association in Cairo, placed Kenya in Group D alongside South Africa, Guinea and Eritrea.
McCarthy, South Africa’s all-time leading scorer, will now have the task of guiding Harambee Stars against the country where he built his legendary football career.
A total of 48 nations, including co-hosts Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, were divided into 12 groups of four teams each for the qualification campaign to the AFCON PAMOJA 2027.
Although the three East African nations are already guaranteed places at the finals by virtue of being hosts, they will still participate in the qualifiers.
CAF confirmed that in groups containing either Kenya, Uganda or Tanzania, only one additional team will qualify automatically for the finals. In all the other groups, the top two teams will progress.
The opening two matchdays are scheduled for the FIFA window from 21 September to 6 October 2026, before Matchdays 3 and 4 take place from 9 to 17 November 2026.
The final two rounds of fixtures will be played from 22 to 30 March 2027, when the tournament line-up is expected to be finalized.
Kenya and South Africa share a long-standing rivalry in senior men’s football, having met several times in AFCON qualifiers and international friendlies over the years.
The two nations notably clashed during the 2002 and 2015 AFCON qualification campaigns.
Stars famously stunned South Africa 1-0 in Nairobi on 7 October 2000, during the 2002 qualifiers, before Bafana Bafana responded with a similar 1-0 victory in the return leg on 25 February, 2001.
The rivalry was renewed in the 2015 AFCON qualifiers, where Kenya held South Africa to a goalless draw in Nairobi on 12 October, 2014, before suffering a narrow 1-0 defeat in Mbombela three days later.
Kenya’s clash against Eritrea also carries painful memories for Harambee Stars supporters, with the fixture offering a chance for revenge after the Horn of Africa nation completed a shock double over Kenya during the 2008 AFCON qualification campaign.
The two sides have only met twice in AFCON qualifiers, with both encounters coming in the race to qualify for the 2008 tournament.
Eritrea stunned Kenya 2-1 at Kasarani Stadium on September 2, 2006, before sealing another 1-0 victory in the return leg played in Asmara on March 24, 2007.
Eritrea eventually finished above Kenya in Group 6, which was topped by Angola.
Guinea’s Syli Nationale are also familiar opponents to Harambee Stars, although the two countries have never faced each other in AFCON qualifiers.
Their competitive meetings have instead come in FIFA World Cup qualification campaigns between 1992 and 2008.
The most recent meeting between the two nations came on October 12, 2008, in Conakry during the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, where Guinea edged Kenya 3-2 in a thrilling encounter.
AFCON 2027 Qualifiers – Groups
- Group A: Morocco, Gabon, Niger, Lesotho
- Group B: Egypt, Angola, Malawi, South Sudan
- Group C: Ivory Coast, Ghana, The Gambia, Somalia
- Group D: South Africa, Guinea, Kenya, Eritrea
- Group E: DR Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe
- Group F: Burkina Faso, Benin, Mauritania, Central African Republic
- Group G: Cameroon, Comoros, Namibia, Congo
- Group H: Tunisia, Uganda, Libya, Botswana
- Group I: Algeria, Zambia, Togo, Burundi
- Group J: Senegal, Mozambique, Sudan, Ethiopia
- Group K: Mali, Cape Verde, Rwanda, Liberia
- Group L: Nigeria, Madagascar, Tanzania, Guinea-Bissau
