Kenya recorded their first win of the AFCON 2025 qualifiers on Tuesday, defeating Namibia 2-1 at the Orlando Stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa. The win puts Kenya on top of the Group J standings after Cameroon could only secure a 0-0 tie against Zimbabwe.
The victory was Kenya’s first ever away win over Namibia and third overall out of their seven meetings. Namibia are ranked 10 places above Kenya in the FIFA rankings.
Each team will play 6 matches in total in the group phase, two against each other team in their group. The top 2 teams from each group will qualify for the Final Tournament which will be held in Morocco next year.
Coach Engin made a couple of aggressive changes to the Kenyan lineup following the scoreless draw with Zimbabwe in their opener, starting both John Avire and Jonah Ayunga. The moves paid off as Avire was able to score Kenya’s first goal of the qualifiers and Duke Abuya tacked in their second. Namibia’s Deon Daniel Hotto scored a solitary goal for his country late in the match but it wasn’t enough to keep Kenya from securing the win.
Namibia got the first opportunity in the match when Prins Menelik tested goalkeeper Bryne Omondi with a quick shot in the third minute. Kenya responded with a chance of their own a few minutes later but Erick Oma’s free-kick went through the box. Arguably the closest either team came to scoring in the first half was when Omondi made a fingertip save in the 15th minute to keep out a deadly free-kick from the edge of the box.
Overall, the first half was relatively quiet as both teams attempted to find weak spots in the opposition’s defense. This resulted in a scoreless half that saw limited shots on goal.
The second half was a different story, with Kenya pressing for an advantage early on. They finally broke the deadlock in the 57th minute when John Avire curled a free-kick past the Namibian defense and goalkeeper giving his team a crucial 1-0 lead. The momentum seemed to continue in Kenya’s favor when Eric Ouma led a rapid counter-attack in the 76th minute. He provided a great pass to Duka Abuya who calmly guided the ball in the back of the net to give Kenya a commanding two goal lead.
Namibia didn’t have much of a chance to fight back from that position as they could only manage a consolation goal in the 94th minute through Deon Hotto. The end result was a much-needed 2-1 victory for Kenya which boosted them to the top of the group.
Namibia had 13 shots on goal compared to the 14 of Kenya, only 3 of the shots were on target however compared to 5 from their opposition. Namibia had 61% of the possession as well to go along with 4 more corners.
Next up for Kenya will be Cameroon on Matchday 3, which will be held on October 7th. The match will be a tough one for Kenya, against one of the pre-tournament favourites. Cameroon are currently ranked 51 in the world compared to 108 for Kenya.
The winner of the match will take the top of the Group, while a tie will keep Kenya on top based on goals scored. Kenya will face Cameroon twice in their next four AFCON qualifier matches and will likely need to secure points in at least one of the matches to qualify for the Final Tournament.
Kenya Starting XI Versus Namibia: Bryne Omondi, Amos Nondi, Erick Ouma, Joseph Okumu, Sylvester Owino, Anthony Akumu, Ronney Onyango, Richard Odada, John Avire, Duke Abuya, Jonah Ayunga
