The eighth edition of the biennial association football tournament organised by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), featuring national teams consisting of players currently playing in their respective local leagues, is scheduled to kick off on August 2nd and run until August 30th.
On Thursday, June 19th, the African body confirmed venues that will host the opening ceremony and first fixture, the third-place playoff and the final. Tanzania’s Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam will host the opening match, Nelson Mandela Stadium in Kampala, Uganda, has been designated to host the third and fourth matches of the event, while Kenya’s Kasarani Stadium in Nairobi will host the final match of the competition on August 30th, 2025.
CAF further confirmed that Zanzibar have been added to the countries that will host the tournament’s matches, with the New Amaan Stadium, which recently staged a successful CAF Confederation Cup 2024/25 final between Tanzania’s Simba SC and RS Berkane of Morocco, in May, set to host Group D matches.
Hosting final at Kasarani will put Kenya under pressure
With the final scheduled for Kasarani on August 30th, Onsika believes Harambee Stars, who will be under the guidance of South African legend Benni McCarthy, will be under scrutiny from Kenyans to qualify for the final on home soil.
“It doesn’t matter how they will do it, but every Kenyan will be looking forward to seeing Harambee Stars play in the final on home soil,” Onsika told Flashscore.
“I don’t think they will have any other option to settle for apart from reaching the final, and the decision by CAF to pick Kasarani for the closing ceremony and the final will definitely put the team under a lot of pressure to make sure they qualify for the grand finale.”
Onsika continued: “It is the best opportunity for the country to win a major trophy, we have tried in AFCON before and have never won it, we are playing in the CHAN for the first time, and the tournament being played here in Kenya give us a great chance to win it, and also gives Kenyans a great chance to watch the best of African in action.
“But one thing I am sure about, Kenyans will not be happy to see two foreign teams square it out in the final. The best Harambee Stars can offer Kenyans is to reach the final and win the trophy, they will not be forgiven if they fail, if they don’t reach the final, then it will be a disastrous campaign.”
Onsika reminded Harambee Stars to borrow a leaf from Kenya’s national team squad of 1987, who reached the final of the All-Africa Games on home soil. During the fourth edition of the Games, 42 countries participated in fourteen sports.
Harambee Stars, who were then under the late Reinhard Fabisch, reached the final of the football event, but lost 1-0 against Egypt. In the final that was attended by over 80,000 fans, including the then Kenyan President Daniel Moi, Mohamed Ramadan scored the all-important goal that ended Kenya’s dream of lifting the trophy.
In the group stage, Kenya, who were pooled in Group A alongside Cameroon, Madagascar, and Tunisia, finished second after managing five points, the same as the Indomitable Lions, who topped the pile by virtue of having a better goal aggregate, and the two qualified to the knockout stage.
“What Harambee Stars did in 1987 was incredible despite not winning the title,” offered Onsika. “They were in a very tough group but did superbly well to come out of it and eventually reach the final. A final is a game that can go either way, and losing in the final was already a better show than coming out in the group stages.
“I think it will be good enough for the current squad to be reminded of the 1987 team, what they did during the All-Africa Games, and then we challenge them to better their performance. If the 1987 team reached the final, then the current squad should be tasked to reach the final and win the trophy.”
Onsika continued: “We have a good crop of players capable of confidently playing in the CHAN tournament, and now it is upon coach McCarthy to make sure that he picks the best squad for the job, and with a clear focus on what the team wants to achieve at the end of the competition.”
Tough Group A
Harambee Stars have been drawn in Group A alongside Morocco, Angola, DR Congo, and Zambia and will play all their matches in Nairobi, at Kasarani Stadium.
“We don’t have to fear any team if you want to win the trophy, I see people saying Morocco will be difficult, but then again, we have to grow beyond that fear of facing North African teams, and that mentality should be instilled on the players before, and when the tournament gets underway,” explained Onsika.
“Nowadays in football we don’t have favourites, there is nothing like the favourite tag anymore, teams are losing to minnows and it keeps happening every day in major tournaments. Kenya should bank on the home support, they should play according to the coach’s plan and stay focused.”
Asked to predict where Kenya will finish in 2024 CHAN, Onsika said: “I watched them recently during the friendly matches against Chad, they have really improved, and you could see even the passing of the ball, which has been a problem, has greatly improved, and their all-round defending was superb.
“What McCarthy needs to work on now is the striking force, we still don’t have someone who can finish those chances. We create a lot but don’t use them. We dominated Chad in the first friendly but came out with a 0-0 draw, that person to put the ball inside the net is still missing, and we need to fix that, but for me, I think Kenya will play in the final of 2024 CHAN.”
Group B of Tanzania, Madagascar, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic will be based in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Group C of Uganda, Niger, Guinea, South Africa, Algeria, will be based in Kampala, while Group D, which comprises of Senegal, Congo, Sudan, Nigeria, will stage their matches in Zanzibar.
