Harambee Stars have shamefully exited the 2025 Africa Nations Championship qualifiers after losing 3-1 on aggregate to the lowly-ranked South Sudan.Stars suffered a shocking 2-0 in the first leg held last Sunday at Juba Stadium and needed to overturn the results in the second leg staged at the Mandela National Stadium in Namboole, Uganda.F. T🇰🇪 1-1 🇸🇸#HarambeeStars pic.twitter.com/687qdxQY7e— Harambee Stars (@Harambee__Stars) November 3, 2024 However, despite taking an early lead, Stars were held to a one-all draw, a score line which is not enough to guarantee them a place in the final round of the qualifiers.Skipper of day Austin Odhiambo gave Kenya the lead in the tenth minute but the Bright Stars leveled matters in the 43rd minute to seal their qualification to the next round.South Sudan will face Rwanda in the last hurdle with the winner on aggregate securing a ticket to the finals set to run between February 1-28.Despite the embarrassing defeat to South Sudan, Kenya has a ticket to the finals by virtue of being one of the host nations alongside: Uganda and Tanzania.##NAJAVA_MECA_8466573##Stars were expected to use the qualifiers and build a team for the tournament but it appears that coach Engin Firat did not attach seriousness to the qualifiers. Gor Mahia midfielder to skipper Harambee Stars against South SudanThe Turkish coach is on record saying that the qualifiers made no sense considering that Kenya had the ticket in hand the congested FIFA calendar.The performance in the qualifiers will definitely earn the former Moldova national team coach criticism as he continues to underperform in competitive matches. Kenya has won a paltry three competitive matches from the time Firat was hired in September 2021 as a successor to Jacob ‘Ghost’ Mulee.Firat has also failed to beat South Sudan in three attempts as Kenya lost 1-0 to the same side during a friendly match staged at Kasarani Stadium. Mathare halt KCB’s unbeaten start as Shabana struggles persistStars shift focus to the remaining two 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Zimbabwe and Namibia where the team will be seeking to gather six points and sail through. Zimbabwe will host Kenya on 15 November in South Africa before taking on Namibia four days later in Uganda. Should they win the two matches and Zimbabwe loses to Cameroon, Kenya will return to the AFCON for the first time since 2019.
