Kenya Under 20 national team players during a training session at M-Pesa Foundation Academy in Thika on April 14, 2025.
Kenya Under-20 football team’s assistant captain, Baron Ochieng, is unfazed by his side’s placing in the ‘group of death’ in the upcoming 2025 Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals, noting that it is the kind of challenge that every player looks forward to.
The 13-team biennial youth tournament in Egypt is scheduled for April 27 to May 18. According to a fresh draw conducted on Sunday in Cairo, Kenya nicknamed ‘Rising Stars’ will play record seven-time champions Nigeria, former winners Morocco and Tunisia.
Group ‘A’ consists of four-time champions Egypt, former winners Zambia, Sierra Leone, South Africa and Tanzania. Defending champions Senegal, Central Africa Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, and four-time winners Ghana are the teams in Group “C”.
Though defender Ochieng admitted that the team was taken aback by the fresh draw, he insisted that they are up to the task and remain focused on bringing the title home.
Kenya Under 20 national team players during a training session at M-Pesa Foundation Academy in Thika on April 14, 2025.
“Everyone was shocked with the information that a new draw is going to be conducted but at the same time, it has encouraged everyone in the team. As a player, meeting tougher opponents makes you tougher and more challenged. We are easy about the new pool because we have a good team and we are going to fight,” said the Sofakapa defender.
The fresh draw was necessitated by Cote d’Ivoire’s decision to pull out as host last month. In the previous draw of the competition, Kenya coached by Salim Babu were placed in a relatively easier Group “C” together with Senegal, Zambia, and Sierra Leone.
Kenya’s assistant coach Anthony Akhulia said the new group opponents have taken them back to the drawing board since “playing Arab teams is a totally different ball game from playing these other teams.”
But he remained confident that they would register a strong performance in the competition.
“Preparations have been good and nothing will alter us from getting what we want,” said the Bidco United coach.
Kenya will be making their second appearance in the tournament after their debut in 1979 when it was referred to as the African Youth Championship.
Kenya’s campaign in that edition ended in the preliminary round where they lost 4-2 on aggregate to Ethiopia.
The top four nations in this year’s tournament will qualify for the 2025 Fifa Under-20 World Cup which will be staged in Chile from September 27 to October 19.
Kenya qualified for the Afcon U20 finals by finishing second in the Cecafa U20 regional qualifiers held in October last year in Dar es Salaam.
Kenya Under 20 national team head coach Salim Babu monitors his players during a training session at M-Pesa Foundation Academy in Thika on April 14, 2025.
Kenya’s 35-man provisional squad, which comprised both foreign-based and local talent, held a residential training camp last month.
The team which has been trimmed to 25 players is this week expected to depart for Morocco for a one-week high-performance training after which they will fly to Egypt for the tournament.
Ochieng said the pre-camp in Morocco will help them to adjust to the weather in North Africa ahead of the tournament in Egypt.
Having conceded in all the five friendly matches that they have played, Ochieng singled out their defense as the area they still need improvement.
Rising Stars secured an emphatic 4-2 win over Ulinzi Stars and an identical 1-1 draw against Kariobangi Sharks and Kenya Police.
They lost 3-2 to Tusker and defeated Kenya Police Youth 3-1. “In the past two weeks we have been gelling and we are motivated in camp.”
