What Time Is Kenya vs South Africa? Harambee Stars' AFCON Qualifiers

Kenya play South Africa at 7:00 PM Kenyan time on Friday 13 November 2026 at Orlando Stadium in Soweto, then host them at 7:00 PM on Tuesday 17 November at Nyayo National Stadium. Both are AFCON 2027 qualifiers in Group D. If you've seen 11 and 15 November on a fixture list, that's the older schedule.

What time is Kenya vs South Africa in Kenya?

South Africa is an hour behind Nairobi, so the 6:00 PM Soweto kick-off reported by TimesLive reads 7:00 PM here. The FKF ticket site lists the Nairobi game at 19:00 EAT. We'll update this page if CAF or the FKF changes either time.

A couple of reports call the first venue Orlando Amstel Arena. Same ground.

Why are the Harambee Stars playing if Kenya have already qualified?

Kenya's place at the finals is safe as a co-host with Uganda and Tanzania, but the three hosts still play the qualifiers. CAF's rule for their groups is that only one other team goes through automatically. So Group D is really a three-way contest between South Africa, Guinea and Eritrea for one place, and because Kenya can still take points off all three of them, whatever the Harambee Stars do from here can shape who goes to the finals and who stays at home next summer. Nobody should call these friendlies.

For Benni McCarthy's side, that makes November a useful test against strong opposition, months before a home tournament. And they haven't won yet in this campaign.

Where do Kenya stand in the AFCON qualifiers table?

Third on goal difference after two rounds. Kenya drew 1-1 with Eritrea and lost 1-0 to Guinea in Conakry. South Africa beat Guinea 2-1 in Johannesburg, then Eritrea 5-0 in a game played in Egypt.

Here's what the two Kenya games do to the numbers. It isn't a forecast. You're only looking at the points each outcome would leave behind:

Guinea and Eritrea meet each other in the same window, so South Africa's lead over Guinea could shrink or grow whatever happens against Kenya. Round five and six follow in late March 2027.

Who is in the Kenya squad for South Africa?

McCarthy has named a provisional group of 36, which will be cut before the camp starts, and we'll add the final list once the FKF publishes it. Michael Olunga is captain. You'll also see a mix of home-based players and young names from Spain. These are some of the picks, with clubs as listed by The Standard on 30 October:

South Africa's list runs to 38 for now, and Pitso Mosimane will trim that too. Ronwen Williams, Lyle Foster and Relebohile Mofokeng are on it, with Mamelodi Sundowns the biggest supplier. Otieno plays his club football in South Africa, so he's seen plenty of them up close.

Why does this one matter so much to Benni McCarthy?

McCarthy is still South Africa's all-time leading scorer, and now he's taking a Kenyan side to Soweto to face the country he scored those goals for. The man in the other dugout, Mosimane, is one of the best-known coaches South Africa has produced. It's a great story. For Bafana, though, the group table comes first.

How do you get tickets for Kenya vs South Africa at Nyayo?

Use the official FKF site, tickets.footballkenya.org, which shows the game from KES 500 at the time of writing. Type the address in yourself, because you can't be sure where a link on a social post really goes. Stars games at Nyayo have sold out before, so don't count on buying late.

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