Harambee Stars may not be playing in this year’s Africa Cup of Nations finals in Ivory Coast but this has not stopped coach Engin Firat from following the matches with keen interest.This is because Harambee Stars are in the same group of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers with hosts Ivory Coast and Gambia.Stars play Ivory Coast in June this year in round four of the qualifiers with the match against Gambia set for next year.Before confronting the Elephants, Stars will take on their CECAFA counterparts Burundi in round three.Kenya kicked off the qualifiers with a 2-1 loss to Gabon before recovering and thrashing Seychelles 5-0 in round two.##NAJAVA_MECA_7822181##Firat believes Kenya can pull a surprise against the Ivory Coast whom he tipped to top the group at the end of the qualification campaign.“It is still difficult to say how the squads will change before the World Cup qualifiers resume but the fact is that Ivory Coast are favorites in many things as they have some of the top players in Africa.Their sub-par performance at AFCON is a result of their inability to handle pressure. Regarding our match, I believe we can pull a surprise on them if we concentrate and have a good plan since I already know their weakness,” he said.North and West African teams are favourites for AFCON title, predicts Stars coach Engin FiratRegarding Gambia, Firat expressed disappointment that they were eliminated early from the Africa Cup of Nations.“They are a very good team. Their current coach has gone and I believe that the new one will identify new players and even though they have zero points in the World Cup qualifiers, they may give us problems when we meet,” said the Turkish gaffer.Firat tips Harambee Stars to flourish in World Cup QualifiersFirat insisted that Kenya should not compare notes with her East African neighbors since they are facing the same challenges.“When you look at the quality of this year’s AFCON, it remains the highest we have seen in a long while because we have about 200 players playing in the top five leagues in the world.As a country that is what we should aim for. We need to have at least five or six players in the top five leagues in Europe and then we can think of making significant improvement in our performance,” he added.
