Victor Wanyama Explains Why Harambee Stars ‘Can Beat Anyone’ at AFCON 2027

Former Harambee Stars captain Victor Wanyama has high hopes in Kenya ahead of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations.

Harambee Stars will play at home during next year’s tournament which Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania will co-host and there is pressure on coach Benni McCarthy and his team to do well.

However, there are also doubts about how far they can go given in their previous six AFCON appearances, their journey has ended at the group stage.

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Observers fear a repeat of the same at home would be an embarrassing outcome while it might also lead to a scenario where there is little interest from fans in the tournament, hence empty seats in the stadiums.

Wanyama, however, thinks Kenya has enough quality to make it to the knockout rounds, pointing at their run to the quarter-final of the CHAN 2024 with a team of local-based players, as enough proof that a similar outcome can be achieved with the addition of more quality to the side.

“We did host the CHAN here and nobody expected the local players to do well the way they did and that means also with the fans at home, anything can happen,” Wanyama said on the Obi One podcast.

“If you add a little bit of quality to the local-based players and prepare them well, they can do something. In front of our fans I think they can beat anyone. If they show the same spirit as in CHAN and get the same support, we could be a problem,” added a confident Wanyama.

Part of Kenya’s plan for AFCON 2027 is to integrate as many players as possible who were born abroad and are eligible to play for Harambee Stars with Wanyama’s brother McDonald Mariga and McCarthy having been on a recent trip to Europe to encourage them to commit to the country.

McCarthy and Mariga have on separate occasions said that they believe Kenya can go as far as the quarter-final at AFCON 2027.