Harambee Stars blunder against Burundi as South Africa hold Nigeria in 2026 World Cup qualifiers
8th June 2024
Harambee Stars conceded with five minutes to play after a costly defensive mistake.

- Duke Abuya had given Kenya the lead in the 72nd minute.
- Abdallah Sudi's 85th-minute strike cancelled out the effort.
- South Africa held Nigeria to keep the Super Eagles without a victory in their 2026 World Cup qualifying Group C.
The men’s national football team, Harambee Stars, plotted
their own downfall as they ended up drawing 1-1 against Burundi in their third
Group F FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifying match played at the Bingu National
Stadium in Lilongwe, Malawi on Friday evening.
With only five minutes to play, Daniel Anyembe failed to do
the simplest of things with the ball around his own penalty box as Abdallah
Sudi winning the ball before easily rounding Patrick Matasi in the Kenyan goal
to deny Kenya the three points in the match.
Duke Abuya had put Kenya on the path to a second win in
group matches after finishing off a clever pass from Austin Odhiambo but the
defensive mix-up allowed the Burundians to nick a point from the game.
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Elsewhere, South Africa held Nigeria 1-1 to keep the Super
Eagles without a victory in their 2026 World Cup qualifying Group C.
The stalemate saw Nigeria drop to fourth in the table with
three points from as many matches with South Africa third on four points.
Minnows Lesotho, ranked 149th in the world, are top of the
Group C standings with five points on the back of a 2-0 win over Zimbabwe
earlier on Friday.
Rwanda are second with four points and a better goal
difference than both Benin and South Africa.
Friday's match in the southern Nigerian town of Uyo was a
repeat of the 2024 Africa Cup of Nations semi-final in the Ivory Coast, which
also ended 1-1 before Nigeria won on penalties.
The hosts started brightly with Paul Onuachu, Ademola
Lookman and Benjamin Tanimu having shots at goal in the first half.
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Kampala
South Africa gradually settled into the game.
A Teboho Mokoena free kick brushed off the crossbar with
Nigeria goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali beaten.
The visitors were rewarded in the 29th minute, when Themba
Zwane took on the Nigerian defence on his own before he fired home the opening
goal.
Tanimu came to the rescue of the Super Eagles after 36
minutes, when goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali was beaten by a chipped effort, but
the Tanzania-based defender headed to safety.
But Alex Iwobi teed up Fisayo Dele-Bashiru for the equaliser
after the break as Bafana Bafana often tore through the Nigerian defence.
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Both sides had their chances to break the deadlock in the
second half.
South Africa continued to pour forward, but Elias Mokwana
failed to finish off another sleek attacking move while visiting goalkeeper
Ronwen Williams cleared an Onuachu header.
And Williams denied Atalanta forward Lookman in stoppage
time when he turned away a goal-bound effort for a corner.
Group C remains wide open with Nigeria, two points adrift of Lesotho in fifth place, hoping to register their first win away against Benin on Monday, with South Africa playing at home against Zimbabwe on Tuesday.