Uganda have more young football talents to discover – Laryea Kingston

Former Ghana midfielder Laryea Kingston believes Uganda have more talented young footballers waiting to be discovered as he continues his work with the country’s youth teams.

Kingston, who has guided Uganda’s U-17 side to the 2026 FIFA U-17 World Cup and the 2027 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations, says the technical qualities of Ugandan players suit his football philosophy.

“I find myself in the right place. I find myself in the country that most of the players, their qualities fits my style of play. We’re looking at players that are comfortable with the ball, very technical players,” he said.

The former Black Starlets coach also drew comparisons between Ghanaian and Ugandan players, noting that their technical ability has helped him adapt to his role.

“Ugandans are not far from Ghanaians, the quality that the Ghanaians have. So for me, that’s what makes it easy for me because I’m a Ghanaian, and I know technically Ghanaian players are very good on the ball,” he added.

Despite the progress made under his leadership, Kingston believes Uganda’s talent pool extends well beyond the players already identified by his technical team.

He says establishing a comprehensive database of young footballers and tracking their development will be crucial to identifying more prospects.

Kingston also highlighted the importance of organising training camps to assess players and help them improve their abilities.

“I know the best is yet to come in this country because I can see our database with few kids, but I can see there are more better players than what we’ve found,” he said.

“The most important thing is to have a data that we can monitor all of them and make sure we engage them with training camps, because this is what I learned.”

Kingston recently guided Uganda to win the U-17 AFCON CECAFA Qualifiers.

Uganda are preparing for the 2026 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Qatar, where they have been drawn in Group B alongside South Korea, Ecuador and New Caledonia.