{"id":121200,"date":"2026-03-27T15:03:20","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T15:03:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/mccarthy-expects-strong-harambee-stars-at-fifa-series"},"modified":"2026-03-27T15:33:59","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T15:33:59","slug":"mccarthy-expects-strong-harambee-stars-at-fifa-series","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/mccarthy-expects-strong-harambee-stars-at-fifa-series","title":{"rendered":"McCarthy Expects Strong Harambee Stars at FIFA Series"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. <\/strong><\/span>Rwanda Vs Grenada<\/p>\n

Kenya head coach Benni McCarthy has set his sights on building a formidable squad during the FIFA Series 2026 scheduled from March 26 to 31 in Kigali.<\/p>\n

The Kenyan team arrived in Kigali on Tuesday night and held their first training session on Wednesday preparing for the international assignment.<\/p>\n

As McCarthy and his Harambee Stars gear up for the tournament, the team will be looking to translate recent progress and renewed confidence into strong performances, with the aim of restoring pride and momentum ahead of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), which Kenya will co-host.<\/p>\n

They will face Estonia on Friday at 6:00pm CAT battling for a ticket to the final of Group A which also includes hosts Rwanda and Grenada.<\/p>\n

McCarthy expressed optimism about the team\u2019s direction, emphasising resilience and a forward-looking mindset.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe now have an opportunity to rectify past results and give Kenyan fans something positive to believe in. We need to build a strong team for the next tournament,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe national team has progressed well. We don\u2019t want previous results to define where we are going. Instead, we want to build on this FIFA Series and keep moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

The tournament will play a key role in Kenya\u2019s preparations for AFCON 2027, offering valuable match experience against international opposition.<\/p>\n

McCarthy also highlighted the importance of blending experienced players with emerging talent to create a competitive and balanced squad.<\/p>\n

The winner between Kenya and Estonia will face either Rwanda or Grenada who will play later at 9pm at Amahoro Stadium.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Rwanda<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. Rwanda Vs Grenada Kenya head coach Benni McCarthy has set his sights on building a formidable squad during the FIFA Series 2026 scheduled from March 26 to 31 in Kigali. The Kenyan team arrived in Kigali on Tuesday night and held their first training session on Wednesday preparing for the international assignment. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":121199,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,18],"tags":[9526,8847,758],"class_list":["post-121200","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-benni-mccarthy","tag-fifa-series","tag-rwanda"],"yoast_head":"\nMcCarthy Expects Strong Harambee Stars at FIFA Series - Rwanda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Rwanda Vs Grenada Kenya head coach Benni McCarthy has set his sights on building a formidable squad during the FIFA Ser ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/mccarthy-expects-strong-harambee-stars-at-fifa-series\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"McCarthy Expects Strong Harambee Stars at FIFA Series\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Rwanda Vs Grenada Kenya head coach Benni McCarthy has set his sights on building a formidable squad during the FIFA Ser ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/mccarthy-expects-strong-harambee-stars-at-fifa-series\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rwanda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-27T15:03:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-27T15:33:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2026\/03\/sm_1774612992.431813.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"666\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/mccarthy-expects-strong-harambee-stars-at-fifa-series#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/mccarthy-expects-strong-harambee-stars-at-fifa-series\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"McCarthy Expects Strong Harambee Stars at FIFA Series\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-27T15:03:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-27T15:33:59+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/mccarthy-expects-strong-harambee-stars-at-fifa-series\"},\"wordCount\":277,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/mccarthy-expects-strong-harambee-stars-at-fifa-series#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2026\/03\/sm_1774612992.431813.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Benni McCarthy\",\"FIFA Series\",\"Rwanda\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/mccarthy-expects-strong-harambee-stars-at-fifa-series#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/mccarthy-expects-strong-harambee-stars-at-fifa-series\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/mccarthy-expects-strong-harambee-stars-at-fifa-series\",\"name\":\"McCarthy Expects Strong Harambee Stars at FIFA Series - 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