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FIFA Series: Harambee Stars suffer bitter penalty defeat to Estonia
27th March, 2026 09:46 PM
Harambee Stars’ quest to end their recent struggles in friendly encounters suffered another crashing blow in a dramatic penalty shootout defeat to Estonia on Friday, March 27, 2026.
Kenya faced the European nation—ranked 16 places below it—and battled to a 1-1 draw in regulation time courtesy of Ryan Ogam’s second-half equaliser.
However, when the clash was forced into penalties, Kenya’s luck ran out. Stand-in captain Richard Odada was guilty of missing the final penalty, handing Estonia passage to the final on Sunday.
Injury ravaged
The European side dominated the early exchanges against Benni McCarthy’s team, and Kenya found themselves a goal down 20 minutes in after Tammik’s glancing header beat an onrushing Ian Otieno.
A tough first half for Kenya was compounded when Spain-based Job Ochieng was forced off with an injury midway through the period.
Throughout the half, a fluid Estonia sliced through Kenya’s midfield and defense with ease, while Kenya’s only major breakthrough was thwarted by an alert goalkeeper who produced two fine saves.
Ogam levels up
Kenya returned for the second half as the hungrier team and was rewarded with an equalizer from Ryan Ogam. The Harambee Stars’ 2024 CHAN hero picked his spot with his weaker foot after being set up by debutant Zech Obiero.
Stars should have gone 2-1 up from a rare counter-attack, but it ended in disappointing fashion as Lawrence Ouma dragged his shot wide. Meanwhile, another dangerous cross at the end of a Kenyan attacking foray just missed the mark for Mohammed Bajaber. With parity maintained until the final whistle, the tie moved to the lottery of a shootout.
Penalty shootouts
Austine Odhiambo got Kenya off to a dream start with a well-taken spot-kick, but Mohammed Bajaber fluffed his shot to see the teams pegged level.
While Chrispine Erambo and Ben Stanley converted their strikes to keep Kenya in the hunt, the miss from Odada proved costly. As Kenya’s final kicker, his miss ended the team’s dreams of playing in Sunday’s final against the winner of the Grenada vs. Rwanda match.
With this result, McCarthy’s put an end to a run of three games unbeaten in friendly encounters. The team has suffered previous losses against Senegal and Equatorial Guinea.
Meawhile, Kenya’s last win in a competitive match remains the 5-0 thrashing of Seychelles in the World Cup qualifiers, a campaign that nonetheless ended with dashed dreams for the tournament.
Benni McCarthy’s side now awaits the loser in the Rwanda-Grenada clash, whom they will face in the third-place playoff.
