Kenya’s U20 national team assistant coach, Anthony Akhulia, has explained why the Rising Stars failed to progress beyond the group stage at the 2025 U20 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt.
Drawn in Group B alongside powerhouses Nigeria, Morocco, and Tunisia, Kenya struggled despite a promising start to the tournament.
The Rising Stars, making their debut at this level, lost 3-2 to Morocco, fell 3-1 to Tunisia, and managed a 2-2 draw against Nigeria in their final group match.
The team had earned their spot at the tournament after finishing as runners-up in the CECAFA U20 qualifiers, where they went unbeaten and scored 14 goals while conceding just once.
In their opening match, Kenya took an early lead against Morocco through Lawrence Ouma’s header from Kevin Injehu’s free-kick. However, they conceded twice before half-time, and despite briefly levelling through Hassan Beja, fell 3-2 after a late Moroccan goal.
A similar pattern followed against Tunisia, where Ouma again gave Kenya the lead, but a penalty by Fares Bousnina, confirmed by VAR, and second-half strikes from Omar Ben Ali and Alaeddine Derbali secured a 3-1 victory for the Carthage Eagles.
Against Nigeria, Kenya took the lead twice, first through Injehu’s sixth-minute penalty and then through substitute William Gitama’s strike, but the Flying Eagles equalized on both occasions, eventually forcing a 2-2 draw.
Reflecting on the tournament, Akhulia admitted Kenya struggled to cope with pressure and game management. “We reached Egypt and noticed that any slight mistake gets punished at this level,” he told Flashscore.
“We really need to have a strong mentality in terms of how we play, how we manage ourselves. We must also improve on how to manage the game because we exited the tournament because we were not able to manage the game, we had moments when we were leading, and what did we need to do? And if you check keenly, both Morocco and Tunisia overpowered us because of that, not being able to manage the game.”
