Benni McCarthy has outlined his ambitions for Harambee Stars ahead of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations, with Kenya set to co-host the continental showpiece alongside Uganda and Tanzania.
Having automatically qualified as hosts, focus has shifted toward making a genuine impact at the tournament. The South African coach believes the squad has enough potential to achieve something Kenyan football has never managed before.
Kenya has appeared at AFCON six times — in 1972, 1988, 1990, 1992, 2004 and 2019 — but has never progressed beyond the group stage. McCarthy, however, is setting a more ambitious objective for the home tournament.
“Kenya is an upcoming nation, an East African nation, a sleeping giant I feel, because the talents that I have seen over this year working in Kenya are immense. They have got a great mentality, good work ethic, fantastic running power and we want to try and convert that into football.
“The progress has been good but I think what I expect and see achievement wise since we are the host nation you want to at least get out of the group stages,” he said.
While confident about his players’ potential, McCarthy acknowledged that the draw could play a major role in determining how far Kenya progresses.
He hopes to avoid being drawn alongside the continent’s strongest sides, believing a balanced group could allow the team to replicate their positive run in the 2024 African Nations Championship, where they reached the quarter-finals.
“I am praying that we don’t get a ‘Group of Death’ because that would really kill our chances. If you are in a group with Morocco, Ivory Coast or Senegal, then ‘Group of Death’ because you know for a fact you don’t have that kind of quality and prowess,” he added.
“But if we are in a modest group, we can have a fighting chance and that is the first goal that we want to achieve, get out of the group and have the same impact we had when we played in the CHAN competition. We went to a quarter-final and that is a realistic target because South Africa, Nigeria…there are so many great countries with better opportunities, better players than what we have,” he said.
Beyond the immediate goal of reaching the knockout rounds, McCarthy says he wants to leave a lasting legacy in Kenyan football by strengthening belief in the national team and its potential.
“That [Round of 16] would be a good starting point, a success for us, but beyond that is anyone’s guess. I just want to make a difference, Kenyan football when you leave there, people would believe more in their football like they do in athletics,” McCarthy further stated.
“Athletics is like a religion for Kenyans but I want football to become on par with athletics because there are some football talents and hopefully, me and my team can achieve that because the people believe and are backing the national team.”