Harambee Stars in group F of World Cup qualifier matches

By Peter Ochieng

The Kenya National soccer team Harambee Stars has landed in group F of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

The draw was conducted in Abidjan, Ivory Coast on Thursday.

In order to directly book a slot for the World Cup for the first time in history, Stars will have to lead the group, which include Ivory Coast, Seychelles, Burundi, Gambia and Gabon.

Winners of each qualifier group will directly qualify for the tournament.

Africa has 9 automatic World Cup slots, up from 5.

Additionally, the four best runners-up from the groups will advance to the CAF Play-Off tournament, whose winner shall secure a spot in the 2026 FIFA World Cup, making it 10 slots for Africa.

According to the fixtures, the first match of the two-legged qualifiers will be played between 13th November and 21st November 2023.

Qualifier matches are expected to end in October, 2025.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be co-hosted by Canada, Mexico and United States of America (USA).

It will be the first time for the tournament to be co-hosted by three countries.

48 teams will participate, after being expanded from 32.

As such, the number of total games will drastically go up from 64 to 104.