Kenya and Gambia’s Scorpions are set to face off in a Group F World Cup qualifying fixture at Alassane Ouattara Ebimpe Olympic Stadium, Ivory Coast, on Thursday, March 20th. This will be matchday five for both nations as the qualification campaign for the global tournament set to take place from June 11th to July 19th, 2026, continues to gather momentum.
The 47-year-old McCarthy has already started work since signing a contract that will last until the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament to be co-hosted by Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.
His first assignment will be the game against Gambia and according to McKinstry, who won two Kenyan Premier League titles with record champions Gor Mahia before stepping down to take charge the vacant role at Gambia, the arrival of the former AmaZulu and Cape Town City coach in South Africa to handle the East African nation, has totally changed the mentality he had for the Kenyan team.
The Northern Irish tactician is of the opinion that under the previous coach Engin Firat, Kenya were more of a defensive-minded team, who only wanted to win matches through corners and set-pieces. But with the arrival of McCarthy, he sees an attacking mindset of football from the Kenyan side when the two sides face off in the Group F battle.
McCarthy possesses an attacking, forward thinking mentality
In an interview ahead of the game, McKinstry, who has also coached Uganda and Rwanda national teams, believes the game against Harambee Stars will be very interesting considering the fact that McCarthy will be in charge for the first time.
“We have Kenya game coming up, and Kenya is an interesting one because Kenya for the last five years, they have drawn a lot of football matches, I think in their last 20 games, they have drawn 10 of them, they have lost six of the last 20 competitive but a lot of draws,” McKinstry told Flashscore.
“If you had asked me six months ago, I would say we were expecting a Kenyan team, who will settle on a low block, defend and try to win off a corner or set-pieces, that is what the former coach’s strategy was, he didn’t really let the team come out and play.
“They were a very defensive minded team and you could even call them previously a counter attacking team, they very much wanted to get a goal off a corner or free-kick.
“But it is a new coach, it is a new era in Kenyan football, Benni (McCarthy) has obviously taken over recently and, historically, Benni’s teams, if you look at his team’s in South Africa whether it was AmaZulu, whether it was Cape Town City, his teams have historically wanted to press more, wanted to be more attacking, he was obviously an incredible footballer himself.”
McKinstry continued: “Most recently he was a strikers coach at Manchester United, so he has a very attacking forward thinking mentality in the game but he only has two or three days of his new players, so again how much of that can be impacted in a short period of time.
“But equally, when I came here a year ago, the first camp we saw attacking football very quickly and if you approach the camp right, you can make that switch very quickly.”
Despite having coached in Kenya, McKinstry remained cautious that though he knows and understands most of the players in the Harambee Stars squad, that could not play to his advantage when the two sides face off because he doesn’t know the game plan his opponent McCarthy will deploy.
“There is a little bit of the unknown going in the Kenyan game but ultimately, I think no one knows Kenyan players more than I do from the last few years, but equally just knowing players doesn’t mean I know what the game plan is going to be,” explained McKinstry.
“We have to be ready to go and take them on, we have to be at our very best and if we are, I am confident we can achieve the results we want. But make no doubt about it that they are two very difficult games but overall, we are looking to take a step forward in our performances, we are looking to tie up some of the errors we have made in recent games and looking to increase on the positive work we have seen over the last few nine months.”
Gambia will take Ivory Coast and Kenya matches seriously
After playing Kenya, Gambia will remain in Ivory Coast to face the African champions in a matchday six fixture at Stade Felix Houphouet-Boigny on Monday, March 24th.
Asked whether the Scorpions will manage to haul maximum six points from the two matches, McKinstry said: “We are going into two very different games, obviously bought teams are ranked above us, so we have to take them both seriously, Ivory Coast are ranked around 44 or 45 in the world, while Kenya are placed between 105 to 108, so both are ranked above us and we have to take both games very seriously,” said McKinstry.
“The idea that it is very easy to look at Ivory Coast in the second game and think that Kenya might be simpler, that is not necessarily true, both will be very big opponents for us but equally both represent very different challenges.
“You know Ivory Coast their home record in competitive matches is quite remarkable, and you have to go back to 2017, the last time that Ivory Coast did not win their home qualifier, that is eight years ago, it is eight years since they last lost at home in a competitive game, even draw, they are all wins, so we know the Ivory Coast will be incredibly difficult, however, we feel we have the players that will make life difficult for them.”
McKinstry concluded: “Just like we did in Tunisia in the last game, we feel that we have the opportunity to go head to head with these historically strong nations on the continent and cause them problems.”
The Scorpions are currently sitting fifth in the six-team group with three points from four matches. Ivory Coast are leading the pile on 10 points, Gabon are second on nine points, Burundi third on seven points, Kenya fourth on five points while Seychelles are rooted bottom with zero points.
