Benni McCarthy’s First Year as Harambee Stars Boss: Success or Failure?

It is one year since South African tactician Benni McCarthy took charge of his first match as Harambee Stars coach.

McCarthy arrived to much fanfare in early March 2025 with a great CV that had seen him work as head coach of South African clubs Cape Town City and AmaZulu FC as well as attacking coach of English Premier League giants Manchester United.

With that, a lot was expected but he had little time to acclimatise as his first match came on March 20, 2025 away to the Gambia, being a 2026 World Cup qualifier. His team would put up a brave display, coming from behind twice to draw 3-3 and the thrilling contest left fans yearning for more.

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In that match, gems like Mohammed Bajaber, who scored a stunner, and William Lenkupae, who netted a last-minute equaliser, were unearthed.

What followed was a more daunting assignment at home to Gabon three days later and while they were positive in their approach and created a host of chances, poor finishing let them down as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang grabbed a brace to steer the Panthers to a 2-1 win.

Still, a packed stadium and the positive approach earned McCarthy and his team plenty of plaudits.

Kenya would play two friendly matches against Chad in June 2025, drawing 0-0 before winning 2-1, but in both matches, one thing remained constant, wasted opportunities.

Their next assignment would come two months later during the 2024 African Nations Championships (CHAN 2024) in August and here, they exceeded expectations by topping a tough Group A, following three 1-0 wins over DR Congo, Morocco and Zambia as well as a 1-1 draw with Angola.

However, they lost on post-match penalties to Madagascar in the quarter-finals after a 1-1 draw in regulation time but the tournament also brought to prominence players like Manzur Okwaro, Ryan Ogam, Sylvester Owino, Alphonce Omija and Alpha Onyango.

In fact, Ogam, Okwaro and Omija earned transfers abroad thanks to CHAN 2024 while Onyango missed out after his Tunisian suitors were not able to convince Gor Mahia to sell.

By now, Kenya’s World Cup qualification hopes had long gone and in the final phase of qualifiers, it was all about pride and boosting FIFA rankings.

In September, McCarthy was handed a reality check when The Gambia outplayed Kenya in Nairobi, winning 3-1, and it could have been more, but Harambee Stars recovered to beat Seychelles 5-0 and Burundi 1-0 before they were thrashed 3-0 by Ivory Coast in Abidjan.

If those games did not give McCarthy vital lessons, then the next ones certainly did as in November, they lost 1-0 to Equatorial Guinea before a humiliating 8-0 defeat to Senegal, a game that raised several questions about Kenya’s capacity, quality as well as the coach’s selection.

Their 1-1 draw with Estonia and 3-0 victory over Grenada in the FIFA Series boosted confidence somewhat but wastefulness in front of goal has left McCarthy worried.

“If I assess us against Senegal, they made eight-nine chances and scored eight goals. Today, we created 11 clear-cut chances so for me, that is a little bit of a worry. We are not able to finish games off,” he admitted after Monday’s game.

Overall, McCarthy has taken charge of 17 games, winning seven, losing as many, while drawing three. Crucially, Harambee Stars have five wins in 11 competitive matches, drawing two and losing four.

“It has been a very good year, not a lot of negatives, learning curves for me definitely. The match against Senegal was definitely a learning curve but other than that, I have only got fond and good memories about my tenure at the helm of the Kenya national team,” McCarthy said on Monday.

“I have brought a lot of new faces through that were unknown and they have just improved and got better so it has been more ups than downs. It has been good and hopefully, I can have another year like this where come AFCON, we can have a bigger impact than what we had in CHAN.”

McCarthy’s men have come up short against higher calibre opposition, failing to beat The Gambia, Madagascar, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea and Senegal which means a lot of work is required in the next one year if he has to get Kenya past the group stages of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations.

The South African coach can be lauded for unearthing some bright local-based players, instilling discipline, playing on the front foot and getting his players to believe but the longstanding defensive vulnerabilities still exist while their poor finishing is costing them games. Those are two key aspects which determine match outcomes that still need plenty of work.

For now, the jury is still out on McCarthy’s tenure but how his team performs in 2026 will determine whether pressure is ramped up on him or fans rally behind him ahead of AFCON 2027.