Tusker FC Believe Continental Club Football Is Key to Kenya's AFCON 2027 Ambitions
Photo: CAF
Tusker FC captain Abud Omar and coach Julien Mette believe the club's run in the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup will be vital preparation for Kenya's AFCON PAMOJA 2027 campaign.
Tusker FC captain Abud Omar and coach Julien Mette believe the club's progression to the group stage of the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup will matter for more than just Tusker — they see it as genuinely important preparation for Kenya's AFCON PAMOJA 2027 ambitions as co-hosts.
Tusker have already qualified for the second round after edging out Sudan's Al Ahli Wad Madani 3-2 on aggregate. They now face Tanzania's Singida Black Stars in the final preliminary round, with the winner reaching the group stage.
Why club exposure matters for the national team
Kenya co-hosts AFCON PAMOJA 2027 alongside Tanzania and Uganda next year, and both Omar and Mette argue that Harambee Stars' prospects will be boosted significantly if a Kenyan club is playing at the continent's highest club level in the meantime.
"It would be great because qualifying for the group stage will expose a lot of our players to the high level," said Omar, who captained Kenya to the CHAN quarter-final in Nairobi last year. "Last season Nairobi United qualified, and now they are ranked among the top 100 clubs in Africa. That shows how much it can boost not only the club but also our league."
Following Nairobi United's lead
Since Gor Mahia in 2018, Nairobi United became the first Kenyan side to reach the group stage of continental club football last season. Tusker — finalists in the 1994 CAF Cup Winners Cup — want to follow that path.
Coach Mette, who has previously managed the Djibouti national team, sees a direct line between club-level continental exposure and national team performance: "Tusker playing in the group stage means that many Kenyan players will play at least six high-level competitive continental games and they will gain more experience. This experience will help them to improve their level and in turn this also improves the national team."
Tusker fly the flag alone
Tusker are Kenya's sole continental representatives this campaign, with league champions Gor Mahia eliminated after a heavy 7-1 aggregate loss to Egyptian side Pyramids FC in the Champions League.
Elsewhere, five teams from the AFCON 2027 host nations have reached the second preliminary round of the Champions League and Confederation Cup combined: Tanzanian giants Simba SC and Young Africans SC in the Champions League, and Uganda's Kitara drawn against Egyptian giants Al Ahly in the Confederation Cup.
Watching Kenyan football on the road to 2027
Kenya's club scene is only going to get more visible as PAMOJA 2027 approaches. If you're planning to be in Kenya, Tanzania or Uganda for the tournament — or for club football before it — the Cantravu Experience Card covers 100+ experiences across all three countries on one prepaid card.
Information sourced from CAF's official report, 16 September 2026.
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