Harambee Stars thrashed Seychelles in their second fixture of World Cup 2026 qualifiers at the Stade Félix Houphouët Boigny in Abidjan, Ivory Coast on Monday, November 20.
Stars run riot in the opening ten minutes as Michael Olunga pounced on a miscued back pass from Seychelles defender Elie Sopha to slot a low driven shot past Carlos Simeon to claim his first goal in the third minute.
The Al-Duhail striker was red hot as he bagged his second of the match when a flick of the ball helped it to the lanky striker’s path with Olunga making no mistake with his cool and finish to put Kenya 2-0 ahead.
Olunga had the chance to complete a first half hat-trick when he managed to wriggle his way through on goal but the Seychelles shot-stopper denied him the opportunity.
Things got heated near the half-hour mark when Seychelles’ Helton Monay was carded for his troubles as he fouled Stars’ Richard Odada who was not pleased with the challenge.
With the resumption of play, Olunga had another to complete a first half hat-trick when Eric Johana quickly released him with a quickly taken freekick but the Seychelles shot-stopper denied him yet again to keep the scoreline 2-0.
Firat’s side ended the half strongly when Johanna caught the Seychelles defenders unawares with a quickly taken throw-in to find Masud Juma who was alert to the situation to bag his second goal of the campaign and Stars third of the game.
Marcelo’s brilliant showing was short lived as he was withdrawn during half time with Abud Omar coming on for the AIK left back.
Olunga opened the second half on the same note forcing Simeon to an early save after he was found brilliantly by the newly introduced Abud Omar.
Omar was in the thick of the action yet again as his cross ricocheted off a Seychelles defender to land on Olunga’s path with the Stars captain hitting the post before the ball landed to Johanna who sent it wide in the 53rd minute.
Seychelles made a triple substitution nearing the hour mark with Kenan Nourice coming on for Monay as winger Brandon Labrosse and Majid Freminot came on for Rhio Damoo and Elie Sopha respectively.
Substitute Omar finally got to have his say as his cut-back cross found Rooney Onyango at the edge of the box as he slotted it far corner to give Kenya a comfortable 4-0 lead.
Firat made a double substitution minutes later as dependable winger Ayub Timbe came on for the relentless Johanna while Benson Omalla rested the third goal scorer Masud.
The substitution quickly paid off as Omalla soon found the back of the net after Rooney applied pressure to rob a Seychelles defender before setting up his club teammate in the 73rd minute.
It could have been 6-0 in favour of Harambee Stars in the 83rd minute but Omalla’s would be second goal was overruled for offside as Firat’s side saw out the game for 5-0 win.
