The team under coach Salim Babu, who will be participating in the tournament scheduled to run from April 27th to May 18th, 2025, for the first time in the country’s history, have been drawn in Group B alongside record seven-time champions Nigeria, former winners Tunisia and Morocco.
Group A will have hosts Egypt, who are the three-time champions, alongside Zambia, Sierra Leone, South Africa and Tanzania, while defending champions Senegal are in Group C with the Central African Republic, DR Congo, and Ghana.
The tournament kicked off on Sunday, April 27th, with the first match pitting Zambia against Sierra Leone at Suez Canal Stadium ending in a 0-0 draw while the second fixture saw Egypt see off South Africa 1-0 at Cairo International Stadium.
Kenya will begin their group fixtures against Morocco on Thursday, May 1st, at 30 June Stadium in Cairo (kick-off time 21:00 EAT) before they face Tunisia on Saturday, May 4th (kick-off time 18:00 EAT), and wind up their group preliminary matches against Nigeria on Wednesday, May 7th (kick-off time 18:00 EAT).
The 18th edition (25th if editions of the tournament without hosts are included), will feature 13 nations battling for continental supremacy and four qualification spots to the FIFA U20 World Cup in Chile 2025.
Kenya not losers but contenders for U20 AFCON title
With their first game fast approaching, Wanjala, who currently features for Spanish third-tier side Athletic Club Torrellano, believes they have had enough preparations to come up with the best in the competition.
“We are ready enough to face any team in the tournament, so far so good, any team that comes our way, we will deal with it as they come and the way they deserve to be handled, and like I said before, we are here to win, and did not come here as losers,” Wanjala told Flashscore.
On what Kenyan should expect from the U20 team, Wanjala said: “On expectations from Kenya, they need to have trust in us, they need to know that we are ready to represent them, we will not let them down, they should relax, we will not disappoint them, we have had the best training heading into the tournament and we will give them the results they want and they will definitely enjoy the outcome.”
Kenya, who booked their ticket to the continental showpiece after a strong showing at the 2024 CECAFA U20 Qualifiers, where they finished second, narrowly losing the final to Tanzania, started residential camp earlier enough, and it is something that Wanjala thinks will work to the team’s advantage.
“We have had a great camp, and first of all let me thank Football Kenya Federation (FKF) for providing us with much time to train together, to gel together, so that as a team we can head into the tournament as a team, so I thank the government in conjunction with FKF for allowing us have camp for a long period,” explained Wanjala.
“We had a friendly against Ghana, it was a good test match, it ended 2-2, and it means we have a few areas that we need to work on, I know even Ghana learnt much from us, but from our end we are taking on our said, how ready is our team, and that is what we have been working on, the correction, and to rectify mistakes, so that when the tournament kicks off, we will be ready to go.”
During the friendly against Ghana’s Black Satellites, Rising Stars were forced to twice come from behind to snatch the draw. Two goals for Ghana from Aziz Musibau (19th and 37th minutes) were replied by their Kenyan counterparts in the 22nd and 33rd minutes courtesy of Lawrence Ouma and Hassan Beja, respectively.
Asked on what they want to achieve from the tournament, Wanjala said: “Our first target is to qualify for the World Cup and after we qualify then we fight for the trophy, but the main target is to use the tournament to qualify for our first-ever World Cup, and for us to qualify for the World Cup, we have to win all the matches were are lined up to play.”
Wanjala concluded: “And for us to win, it will make us champions, so we always have to win to become champions. I think we have really improved as a team, we have been together for a longer period, and the consistency will help us.”
Beyond the continental crown, the stakes are high as the four semi-finalists will earn tickets to represent Africa at the FIFA U20 World Cup, Chile 2025.
Ghana friendly gives Kenya clear picture of what to expect
According to assistant coach Godfrey Oduor, the build-up against the Black Satellites, who will begin the tournament with a Group C match against the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in Suez on Friday, May 2nd, gave the Rising Stars a true picture and competition to expect at the tournament.
“The friendly against Ghana gave us a clear picture of how the team is prepared, and gave us the confidence that we have the quality to perform even better during the tournament,” said Oduor.
“Apart from Ghana, we had planned other friendly matches, but because of unforeseen challenges, we couldn’t play an extra match or two. But as the technical bench we are satisfied with that one friendly against Ghana, it gave us a clear picture of the kind of squad we have, and where the team is, the performance gave us the chance to plan before we face Morocco.”
On the team’s readiness and injury concerns, Oduor said: “We have a few players, who have knocks, remember the intensity of training has been huge, even from the Ghana game we picked a few knocks, our training intensity is on the higher side.
“There are other players struggling with muscle pulls, but it is something that will be sorted out by our medical department, and we are confident before the opener that all the players will be fit and available. We are just working on teamwork, to make sure we achieve our target as a team.”
The tournament will follow a three-group format. Group A contains five teams, while Groups B and C feature four teams each. The top two teams from each pool, along with the two best third-placed teams, will progress to the quarter-finals, with the tournament concluding on May 18th, 2025.
