Harambee Stars players during a training session at Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi on August 21, 2025.
Kenya’s Harambee Stars play Madagascar in the quarter-finals of the 2024 African Nations Championship (Chan) at the 48,000-seater Moi International Sports Centre (MISC) Kasarani today (Friday) from 5pm.
Kenya will be playing for place in the semi-finals of the tournament, with the added incentive of both monetary and material rewards.
The sold-out match will mark the 11th meeting between the two sides, and Kenya holds a slight edge over today’s opponents, having won five past matches against Madagascar, losing three and drawing two.
Competing in Chan tournament for the first time, Kenya have already made history by qualifying for the knock-out stage, and are chasing victory over Madagascar, nicknamed “Barea.”
Victory would also mean more goodies for Harambee Stars as President William Ruto has promised to reward each member of the squad with Sh1 million, and a two-bedroom house should they win today’s match.
Additionally, the team will be guaranteed of more earnings from Caf’s record purse of Sh1.3 billion ($10,400,000) for the 19-nation tournament. Kenya qualified for the quarter-finals as the top-ranked team in Group 'A' with 10 points.
Two-time champions Morocco also booked a ticket to the last eight round after finishing second in the pool with nine points while two-time champions DRC, Angola and Zambia were eliminated after finishing third, fourth and fifth with six, four and zero points respectively.
On the other hand, Madagascar qualified for the quarter-finals as the second-placed team in Group 'B' with seven points behind Tanzania, who garnered 10 points. Mauritania, Burkina Faso and Central Africa Republic were eliminated from the group after finishing third, fourth and fifth with seven, three and one point respectively.
More fans are expected to attend today’s match at MISC, Kasarani after CAF yesterday increased the attendance to 80 percent capacity of the stadium (36,000 fans). CAF capped the attendance to 27,000 for Kenya’s final group match against Zambia, following crowd trouble witnessed in Harambee Stars’ previous match against Morocco.
Harambee Stars players during a training session at Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi on August 21, 2025.
Both Kenya and Madagascar head into the highly-anticipated clash aware that it won’t be easy, having already proven that they are no lightweights.
Harambee Stars coach Benni McCarthy, however, draws confidence from his side’s impressive performance at the group stage, but has cautioned that they must be “extra sharp” in all departments to secure victory.
Drawn in “Group of Death”, Kenya stunned DRC 1-0, drew 1-1 with Angola, and beat giants Morocco 1-0. Kenya capped that impressive group-stage campaign with a 1-0 victory over Zambia. Remarkably, Stars played over an hour with 10 men against both Morocco and Angola following red cards on midfielders Marvine Nabwire and Chrispine Erambo respectively.
“I think after the test that we faced in the group stages, there is no team that we are afraid of anymore or that we think our chances are slim against,” McCarthy observed at the pre-match conference in Kasarani yesterday.
“When you face DR Congo, Morocco, Angola and Zambia, that is a tough task and you say to yourself like our chances (of progressing to the group stage) are simply none but we proved that we are capable of surpassing this, so whoever comes next will really be a good challenge. We will just try to focus on ourselves, what we have to do and that will be good enough for us to advance to the next stage,” the South African football legend added.
All the Kenyan players are fit for the match. But midfielder Chrispin Erambo is not available for selection as he is still suspended following a straight red card he received in their match against Morocco.
In the group stage, Kenya proved solid at the back, conceding only once - against Angola. While Stars have not created many open scoring chances, striker Ryan Ogam delivered the decisive goals against both Morocco and Zambia, while attacking midfielder Austine Odhiambo found the back of the net against DR Congo and Angola.
With Madagascar boasting one of the tournament’s stand-out goalkeepers in 39-year-old Michel Ramandimbisoa, McCarthy said all players must be “extra sharp” in the match.
Ramandimbisoa has saved 17 of the 20 shots he faced in his four outings so far. He has been named man-of-the-match three times - against Mauritania, the Central African Republic and Burkina Faso.
Harambee Stars head coach Benni McCarthy conducts a training session at Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi on August 21, 2025.
“We need to work extra hard because on the other side we are going to have a goalkeeper that knows what it is about performing incredibly on match day,” coach McCarthy said.
“We have to be extra sharp not just in striking but everybody should be ready to take up the challenge to score goals. It won’t be an easy challenge but we relish it. They best be well prepared because we will,” added the former Porto and West Ham United forward.
Apart from Ramandimbisoa, Madagascar’s other key player is midfielder Lalaina Cliver Rafanomesantsoa who has contributed four of their five goals this campaign, scoring two goals and registering as many assists.
Ramandimbisoa and Rafanomesantsoa were in the team that finished third in Algeria. Madagascar’s 60-year-old coach Romauld Rakotondrabe anticipates a tough match against Kenya.
