Kenya national football team

The Kenya national football team (), colloquially known as the Harambee Stars, represents Kenya in association football. It is controlled by the Football Kenya Federation, the governing body of football in Kenya, and competes as a member of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and the Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA). The team plays its home games primarily at the Nyayo National Stadium in the capital, Nairobi.

Name

The team's colloquial name, the Harambee Stars, derives from Harambee, a Kenyan tradition of community self-help events such as fundraising and development activities. The word means "all pull together" in Swahili, and is the official motto of Kenya, appearing on its coat of arms.

History

FIFA suspended Kenya from all football activities for three months in 2004, due to the interference of the government in football activities. The ban was reversed after the country agreed to create new statutes.

On 25 October 2006, Kenya was again suspended from international football, for failing to fulfil a January 2006 agreement made to resolve recurrent problems in its federation. FIFA announced that the suspension would be in force until the federation complied with the agreements previously reached.

Kenya qualified for the 2019 AFCON. The head coach at the time, Sébastien Migné, was appointed in May 2018, and since his appointment Kenya has climbed back into the top 100 FIFA ranked nations. He left in August 2019.

In May 2017, the Football Kenya Federation signed a 3-year partnership with kits manufacturer Mafro Sports to provide the kits for all national teams, as well as junior categories. The national team would use red jerseys for home matches, white jerseys for away matches, and green jerseys for matches played on neutral venues.

On 8 September 2018, Kenya earned a win over 4-time African champions Ghana, winning 1–0.

On 14 January 2023, Football Kenya Federation stated that it had suspended 14 players, including six players from Zoo Kericho FC and two coaches for match-fixing allegations.

Results and fixtures

The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

2025

2026

Coaches

thumb|150px|[[Eckhard Krautzun became the manager of the national football team of Kenya in 1971]]

Ray Batchelor was appointed the first national team coach in 1961. However, there was dissent regarding his managerial skills, and a revolt among players during a CECAFA Cup game in Zanzibar led to him being forced out. In 1963, not long after Kenyan independence was declared, Kenyan international Peter Oronge took over coaching duties; however, he disappeared just hours before a Jamhuri Day friendly against reigning champions Ghana in 1965. His absence was never explained, and Batchelor was called in as an emergency replacement. This match was the team's worst defeat, with a final score of 13–2 against Ghana. At the time, the Ghanaians were a very strong team with a dangerous striker in the form of Ben Acheampong. Two days later, after Batchelor had reorganised the team, the Kenyans and Ghanaians drew in a friendly match.

:Caretaker managers in italics.

:Managers since 1961 include:

Caps and goals are correct as of 29 March 2026, after the match against Grenada.

Recent call-ups

The following players have also been called up to the Kenya squad within the last twelve months.

INJ Withdrew due to injury

PRE Preliminary/Standby squad

RET Retired from the national team

SUS Serving suspension

WD Withdrew from the squad due to non-injury issue

Records

:Players in bold are still active with Kenya.

Most appearances

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"

!width=30px|Rank

! style="width:200px;"|Player

!width=50px|Caps

!width=50px|Goals

! style="width:100px;"|Career

| 1

|align=left|Musa Otieno

| 90

| 9

| 1993–2009

| 2

|align=left|Jonathan Niva

| 88

| 10

| 1965–1976

| 3

|align=left| Allan Thigo

| 81

| 11

| 1969–1978

| 4

|align=left|John Nyawanga

| 80

| 17

| 1965–1976

| 5

|align=left| Dennis Oliech

| 76

| 34

| 2002–2015

| 6

|align=left| Robert Mambo Mumba

| 72

| 13

| 2000–2009

| 7

|align=left| Titus Mulama

| 71

| 8

| 2001–2012

| 8

|align=left| Francis Onyiso

| 70

| 0

| 1996–2011

| 9

|align=left| Michael Olunga

| 69

| 34

| 2015–present

| rowspan=2|10

|align=left| Wilberforce Mulamba

| 68

| 14

| 1978–1988

|align=left| James Siang'a

| 68

| 0

| 1963–1975

Top goalscorers

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"

!width=30px|Rank

! style="width:200px;"|Player

!width=50px|Goals

!width=50px|Caps

!width=50px|Ratio

! style="width:100px;"|Career

| 1

|align=left| William Ouma

| 35

| 66

| 1965–1977

|rowspan=2| 2

|align=left| Michael Olunga

| 34

| 69

| 2015–present

|align=left| Dennis Oliech

| 34

| 76

| 2002–2015

| 4

|align=left| Elijah Lidonde

| 33

| 26

| 1950–1961

| rowspan=2|5

|align=left| Ali Kajo

| 26

| 32

| 1959–1969

|align=left| Livingstone Madegwa

| 26

| 49

| 1964–1972

| 7

|align=left| Joe Kadenge

| 25

| 63

| 1957–1970

| 8

|align=left| John Baraza

| 21

| 52

| 2002–2011

| rowspan=3|9

|align=left| Daniel Nicodemus

| 17

| 34

| 1963–1972

|align=left| Mike Origi

| 17

| 48

| 1990–2004

|align=left| John Nyawanga

| 17

| 80

| 1965–1976

Competition records

FIFA World Cup

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

!colspan=9|FIFA World Cup record

!rowspan=39|

!colspan=7|Qualification record

!Year

!Round

!Position

|1930 to 1958

|colspan=8 |Part of

|colspan=6 |Part of

| 1962 to 1970

|colspan=8 |Did not enter

|colspan=6 |Declined participation

| 1974

|colspan=8 rowspan=14|Did not qualify

| 1978

| 1982

| 1986

|10

| 1990

| 1994

| 1998

|14

| 2002

| 2006

|12

|11

|17

| 2010

|12

|13

|16

| 2014

|11

| 2018

| 2022

| 2026

|10

|18

|14

| 2030

|colspan="8" rowspan="2"|To be determined

|colspan="6" rowspan="2"| To be determined

| 2034

!Total

!84

!27

!22

!35

!99

!114

African Nations Championship

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

!colspan=9|African Nations Championship record

!Year

!Round

!Position

| 2009

|colspan=8 rowspan=7|Did not qualify

| 2011

| 2014

| 2016

| 2018

| 2020

| 2022

|style="border: 3px solid red"| 2024||colspan=8|Qualified as co-hosts

!Total || TBD || 1/8 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0

Africa Cup of Nations

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

!colspan=9|Africa Cup of Nations record

!Year

!Round

!Position

| 1957 to 1959||colspan=8|Not affiliated to CAF

| 1962 to 1970||colspan=8|Did not qualify

| 1972

|Group stage

|5th

| 1974 to 1982||colspan=8|Did not qualify

| 1984

|colspan=8|Did not enter

| 1986

|colspan=8|Did not qualify

| 1988

|rowspan=3|Group stage

|8th

| 1990

|8th

| 1992

|9th

| 1994

|colspan=8|Did not qualify

| 1996

|colspan=8|Withdrew

| 1998 to 2002||colspan=8|Did not qualify

| 2004

|Group stage

|11th

| 2006 to 2017

|colspan=8|Did not qualify

| 2019

|Group stage

|17th

| 2021

|colspan=8|Did not qualify

| 2023

|colspan=8|Disqualified due to FIFA suspension

| 2025||colspan=8|Did not qualify

|style="border: 3px solid red"| 2027||colspan=8|Qualified as co-hosts

| 2029

| colspan="8" |To be determined

!Total || Group stage || 7/36 || 17 || 2 || 4 || 11 || 11 || 31

African Games

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

!Year

!Round

!Pld

!GF

!GA

| 1987||2nd||5||2||2||1||7||6

Honours

Continental

African Games1
Silver medal (1): 1987

Regional

CECAFA Cup
Champions (7): 1975, 1981, 1982, 1983, 2002, 2013, 2017
Runners-up (7): 1979, 1985, 1991, 1999, 2001, 2008, 2012
Third place (6): 1978, 1988, 1989, 1994, 1995, 2003

Friendly

Gossage Cup / Challenge Cup (14): 1926, 1931, 1941, 1942, 1944, 1946, 1953, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1966, 1967, 1971
Four Nations Football Tournament (1): 2024

;Notes

Competition organized by ANOCA, officially not recognized by FIFA.

References

External links

Kenya at CAF
Kenya at FIFA
Kenyan Football Portal (archived 2014)