This is after the 2024 Africa Nations Championship (CHAN) and 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Local Organising Committee (LOC) chairman Nicholas Musonye confirmed to Flashscore that the readiness of the stadium has provided the green light for the national team to play their international fixtures on home soil.
Following the renovation work that was going on at Nyayo and Kasarani stadiums, Harambee Stars were barred from using the venues. In fact, the last time Kenya played a fixture on their home ground was on September 12th, 2023, a friendly that they lost 1-0 against South Sudan.
Since then, Kenya has gone ahead to play 21 matches in all competitions, including friendlies, AFCON and World Cup qualifiers without stepping foot on home soil. During the World Cup qualifiers, Kenya picked Bingu Stadium in Lilongwe, Malawi as their home ground for their Group F fixtures against Burundi and Ivory Coast.
In Malawi, Kenya started off with Burundi battling to a 1-1 draw before securing a 0-0 draw against the African champions. Before facing the Swallows, Kenya had played two away matches in the qualifiers – losing 2-1 against Gabon before recovering to hammer Seychelles 5-0.
Then came the AFCON qualifiers, and Kenya, who were pooled in Group J alongside Cameroon, Zimbabwe and Namibia, opted to take their home fixture to Uganda at Nelson Mandela Stadium.
They hosted the Warriors of Zimbabwe in the opener drawing 0-0, before losing 4-1 to Cameroon. They then took their last home game against the Brave Warriors of Namibia to Peter Mokaba Stadium in South Africa, in a fixture that ended 0-0.
However, Kenya failed to qualify from the group as eventual group winners Cameroon and second-placed Zimbabwe grabbed the two available tickets for the 35th edition of the competition in the North African nation Morocco.
In between the World Cup and AFCON qualifiers, Kenya were involved in the qualification round of the 2024 CHAN competition, to be co-hosted by Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, where they were pitted against South Sudan.
The first leg meeting was played in Juba at the Juba National Stadium, where the Bright Stars registered a 2-0 win with Kenya once again taking their home game to Uganda, where they managed a 1-1 draw to lose the battle 3-1 on aggregate.
Kenya to host Gabon at Nyayo Stadium
According to the LOC chairman Musonye, Nyayo Stadium will host the Gabon qualifier as a test run for the 2024 CHAN.
“We have made good progress in our preparations with Kasarani making steps in the right direction and Nyayo also maintaining good momentum and for a test run I can confirm Nyayo will specifically host Kenya versus Gabon World Cup qualifier,” Nicholas Musonye, Chairman of Kenya’s CHAN/AFCON Local Organising Committee (LOC) told Flashcore.
A the end of a two-day inspection tour by a high-level Confederation of African Football (CAF) delegation led by Samson Adamu, the Confederation’s Director of Tournaments and Events, a day ago, the message was also relayed that the Gabon qualifier will be played at Nyayo Stadium.
Football Kenya Federation President Hussein Mohammed - who is also the vice-chairman of Kenya’s Local Organising Committee for the 2025 Africa Nations Championship (CHAN) and 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournaments - also confirmed that discussions are underway to have more test matches at the Nyayo Stadium and Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani, which will host the CHAN tournament from August 2nd to 30th and also the 2027 AFCON matches.
Kenya’s Harambee Stars currently lie fourth in Group F of the qualifiers with five points from four matches, behind Ivory Coast (10 points), Gabon (nine) and Burundi (seven).
The other teams in the group are Gambia (three points) and Seychelles, who have not gained a single point. Group winners of the nine groups of six teams each qualify directly for the 2026 FIFA World Cup finals in the USA, Mexico and Canada with the four best group runners-up going into a playoff round with other confederations to pick further teams that qualify.
CAF delighted with Kenya’s speed to beat deadline
Adamu, who led a similar inspection visit to Nairobi in January, said he was impressed with the progress made so far, thanking the Kenyan organisers for both the hospitality accorded to the CAF delegations and for focusing on beating the various deadlines.
“I’d like to thank Kenya for the commitment to make sure the tournament is a success. A lot of people were excited about the CHAN draw organised in Nairobi.
“Congratulations to Kenya because there has been great progress since January which means that work has not stopped even after the tournament was postponed (from February to August),” explained Adamu.
During their recent tour, the CAF delegation visited Nyayo and Kasarani competition venues as well as training venues at Kasarani Annex, Ulinzi Sports Complex and Police Sacco Stadium where they were impressed with the progress made.
At Kasarani, the delegation witnessed the arrival of the remaining material for the stadium’s canopy, floodlights and electronic scoreboards. At the Nyayo Stadium, one of the four brand new floodlights has already been installed with work progressing well with the other three.
The playing surface, changing rooms and media tribune are ready and will be tested during the Gabon match. Adamu also announced that CAF will rope in members of Kenya’s CHAN / AFCON Local Organising Committee into Caf’s various competitions, including the Under-17 and Under-20 Cup of Nations competitions in Morocco and Ivory Coast, respectively, and also various inter-club competitions, in order for them to gain exposure and experience.
“We thank CAF for this gesture. It is important for Kenya’s technical and management officials to gain high-level organisational skills and keep a legacy for Kenya even after the Chan and Afcon tournaments in all aspects of the organisation,” Myke Rabar, the Chief Executive Officer of Kenya’s CHAN / AFCON Local Organising Committee, said.
Rabar added that the full tournament operations will be rolled out on March 1st with the media, outdoor advertising and promotional campaign kicking off on April 1st.
Kenya has been drawn in Group A alongside Morocco, DR Congo, Zambia and Angola in the CHAN tournament.
Adamu and the CAF delegation - which included Stephanie Tokotra (Infrastructure Consultant) and Andrew Culbert (Pitch Consultant) - are currently on an inspection visit to Uganda on Tuesday and Wednesday before moving to Tanzania and Zanzibar on Thursday and Friday.
In Uganda, they will inspect the Nelson Mandela National Stadium, Namboole, and training venues for the CHAN tournament at the Kampala International School, Kadiba Training Ground and Mutesa II Stadium.
In Zanzibar, they will assess the Amaan Stadium competition venue and Amaan Annex Training Grounds while in Tanzania, the Caf team will inspect the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium competition venue and training grounds at the Gymkhana Club, Law School and Maj. Gen. Isamuhyo Stadium.
