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Harambee Stars face a herculean task in their bid to qualify for the 2026 Fifa World Cup. Kenya are in Group F of the qualifiers alongside 1992 and 2015 champions Cote D’Ivoire, and Gabon, who reached the finals in 1996 and 2012, as well as Burundi, the Seychelles and The Gambia.

The qualifying matches will take place on 10 matchdays over the next two years, the first on November 13-21, with the play-offs on November 10-18 in 2025. The winners of the nine groups of six teams each will qualify for the 2026 Fifa World Cup. Four best runners-up will be drawn into the play-offs to determine Africa’s representative in the inter-confederation play-offs, where the winner will join the 48-team Finals.

Harambee Stars have never gone past the second round of the Africa qualifiers and no Kenyan football team of any age group category or gender has ever qualified for a World Cup.

But while they face a tough battle in their bid to qualify, it’s through good preparations that the team will perform well. Football Kenya Federation (FKF) should put in place structures that will accord head coach Engin Firat and his players ample time and a good environment to train in.

Proper selection and scouting of players devoid of favouritism and quality build-up matches will be key. Besides, FKF must give Firat a free hand to perform his duties. The welfare of the players and the technical bench should top FKF’s priorities to avoid a recurrence of the strike and go-slow that punctuated previous World Cup preparations.

The team will also need government and corporate support in their bid to play in the 2026 Fifa World Cup Finals. Most teams, especially those from West Africa, deploy everything into their preparations when it comes to such tournaments, hence no team will be a pushover in the qualifiers.