The Harambee Stars of Kenya will be the guest team at the COSAFA Cup

As announced by FKF President Nick Mwendwa, Kenya will take Malawi’s position as they have chosen not to participate in the competition.

The Harambee Stars, the men’s national team of Kenya, will play in this year’s Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA) Cup, which takes place from June 26 to July 7.

President of the Football Kenya Federation Nick Mwendwa made the statement on Sunday, following Malawi’s withdrawal from the 12-team regional competition.

The Malawi Football Association has decided not to participate in the competition in order to grieve the loss of their vice president, Saulos Chilima, who passed away in a plane accident on June 10.

As a result, Harambee Stars will replace them and join Group B, which also includes Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Comoros.

“We have received an invite to Port Elizabeth and we will be playing our first game against Zambia on 27th,” Mwendwa stated. “We recently won the Four Nations Tournament, we have drawn two games in Malawi, and it is only a matter of time.” It is a waste of time to not strive on that consistency.”

With the cancellation of this year’s CECAFA Senior Challenge event, the Kenyan team will now be actively involved in the upcoming months, which is great news.

The team led by Engin Firat, who has drawn its last two matches in the 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers against Burundi (1-1) and Ivory Coast (0-0), will play a maximum of three matches, with the possibility of playing five if they advance past the group stages.