EXCLUSIVE: Kenya's Engin Firat reveals ‘biggest nightmare’ ahead of Cameroon AFCON qualifier

Harambee Stars will continue with their quest to qualify for a seventh appearance at the 35th edition of the biennial African football tournament to be held in Morocco between 21 December 2025 and 18 January 2026 when they face Cameroon in back-to-back Group J fixtures. Kenya will travel for the first meeting on October 7th before facing the same side in a home leg encounter on October 15th.

The first encounter against the Indomitable Lions will be crucial for Firat's charges as they seek to cement their top spot in the group. Kenya are currently leading the group with four points accrued from their opening 0-0 draw against Zimbabwe in Uganda on September 6th, before they recovered to beat Namibia 2-1 in their matchday two at Orlando Stadium in South Africa on September 10th.

Meanwhile, Cameroon are second with four points, amassed from their 1-0 win against the Brave Warriors and 0-0 draw against the Warriors of Zimbabwe.

Firat’s plea to the government to help beat Cameroon

The Turkish tactician has sent a passionate request to the Kenyan government through the Ministry of Sports to ensure that Harambee Stars gets a chartered plane for the trip to face Cameroon.

According to the former Moldovia coach, Cameroon have resorted to play the fixture against Kenya in a remote area and not in Yaounde or Doula, something he argued will negatively affect his players’ ambition to get a positive result.

Investigations by Flashscore indicate the Cameroon vs Kenya fixture will be played in a remote town called Garoua, a port city and the capital of the North Region of Cameroon, lying on the Benue River. Roumde Adjia Stadium, which holds 30,000 people, was built in 1978 and was one of the arenas that hosted the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), will stage the fixture.

The calculated flying distance from Yaounde to Garoua is equal to 397 miles which is equal to 639 km while the driving distance from Yaounde to Garoua is 941 kilometers (585 miles).

“It is crucial for us that the government helps us with a chartered flight or otherwise the players will be too tired to get any result or something from the game, I ask the Ministry of Sports to help us with a chartered flight for such games,” Firat told Flashscore.

“We have this situation, Cameroon will not play in Yaounde or Doula, so they will play somewhere inside (remote area), it means there is not direct flight to enter, if you don’t have any chartered flight then it will be a big nightmare to arrive there, and will be another nightmare when trying to go back from there (after the game).”

Firat further explained why the Kenyan government should chip in and help the team with a chartered flight. “Therefore, it is like in every other country when they ask the government, the government of course helps the national team, with a chartered flight.

“Otherwise, like I said, you have no chance to play these matches under such situations, if you have to go, I don’t know three stops (before reaching your destination), and you have to wait I don’t know in every stop how many hours before proceeding with the journey, it will be a difficult situation for my players and that is for sure.”

During their matchday two fixture against Zimbabwe, Cameroon arrived in Uganda via a chartered flight. Several other teams tend to use chartered flights for their away matches. The last time Kenya used a chartered plane for an away fixture was during their 2018 World Cup qualifier against Cape Verde in 2015.

However, the journey was never as smooth as anticipated because the draining 22-hour journey saw the plane forced to refuel in Entebbe, Uganda, before it flew for an estimated seven-hour, 3000km journey to Kano City in Nigeria for another 30-minute refueling stopover.

The team made another stop in Dakar, Senegal for more fuel after a nine-hour trip covering approximately 2800km before the journey was completed after a 45-minute flight from Dakar to Cape Verde. Kenya went on to lose the fixture 2-0, ending their bid to qualify for the World Cup.

Firat’s request comes a few days after he had sent a warning to Cameroon to anticipate a tough fixture against Harambee Stars. After the Namibia game, which Kenya won 2-1 courtesy of second-half goals from John Avire and Duke Abuya, Firat was asked what Kenyans should expect from the Cameroon game.

He responded: “Do you think Kenya is an easy team? Cameroon should think about how they want to crack Kenya, we are not afraid of Cameroon, you saw the boys, how they played before against Ivory Coast, against Russia, against Qatar? If we have our full squad, then it will not be nice for Cameroon, I promise.”

Firat sings praise of his success despite challenges

Firat, who started his professional career as an assistant coach for German legend Horst Hrubesch in Samsunspor in 1997, believes he has achieved more success with Harambee Stars despite going through many difficult situations.

“Keep this in mind, long-term success in football is not a matter of luck! Since 2024, the Kenyan A national team has been encountering difficulties, we have been playing all our matches outside of Kenya due to the absence of a FIFA-approved stadium. This means we never have the advantage of playing at home or receiving support from the fans,” said Firat.

“Constant travelling leaves us with less time to train and rest compared to our rivals. Despite these challenges, we have had an unbeaten year. Our unbeaten run in all away matches is a historic achievement in Kenyan football, with four wins and three draws, and a goal difference of 15:3 in our favour.”

Firat continued: “In March, the A national team achieved its first-ever Cup win outside Kenya. Then, in September, we secured our first away match win in the AFCON qualifiers with a victory in Namibia, marking Kenya’s second away match win in AFCON qualifiers for a long time. This victory has put Kenya at the top of the group in the AFCON qualifiers, ahead of Cameroon. These achievements speak for themselves.”

The last time Kenya played against Cameroon was in 2010 during a friendly at Kasarani Stadium which the Indomitable Lions won 3-1 courtesy of goals from Paul Webo, Achille Emana Edzimbi and Mohammadou Idrissou. Kenya’s lone goal came through defender James Situma.