Harambee Stars head coach Benni McCarthy has questioned the officiating after Kenya suffered a 1-0 defeat to Guinea in their Africa Cup of Nations 2027 qualifier in Conakry on Thursday, October 1.
Serhou Guirassy scored the decisive goal in the 32nd minute at the Stade du 28 Septembre, handing Guinea their first points of the Group D campaign. Kenya remain on one point after two matches, following their opening 1-1 draw against Eritrea.
McCarthy was particularly unhappy with the decision to allow Guinea's goal to stand, claiming a foul had occurred in the build-up and was overlooked by the referee.
“I think if you watched the game, I don’t think the referee had one of his best matches today because it was very one-sided, and especially for the goal, he was looking at the foul that happened but he just completely ignored it and he allowed the goal to stand,” McCarthy said after the match.
The coach argued that the incident would have been reviewed and potentially overturned had VAR been available, pointing to the use of the technology in other major football competitions.
“If there is VAR or any other in South Africa, in Morocco, in Egypt and that, the goal is disallowed. And at the higher level, the goal is disallowed,” he said.
McCarthy also admitted that Kenya's own lack of composure in the final third contributed to their failure to get a result despite creating opportunities against the hosts.
The Stars struggled to turn their promising attacking moments into goals, with McCarthy saying his players needed greater experience and calmness when approaching the final stages of attacks.
“If we had some experience like Guinea had, I think it would have been maybe a different situation, because we created some nervy moments for them, but unfortunately, in the final third, we lacked a bit of experience.”
Guinea's goal remained the difference despite Kenya showing greater attacking intent after the break. McCarthy made changes in an attempt to increase the pressure on the hosts but the Stars could not find an equaliser.
The coach said his frustration from the touchline was partly caused by Kenya's failure to make the right decisions when they reached the final third.
“Of course, frustrations build up a little bit, especially when your team, they have a good moment and they get into the final third and then it’s just lapse of concentration, lose the focus and they don’t make the good pass for the team to score a goal or to equalise,” McCarthy said.
“Because we were 1-0 down, we were chasing the game, and I just needed somebody to be more calm, to give us that opportunity that we need to score a goal, but it didn’t happen.”
Despite the defeat, McCarthy praised his players for their resilience against a Guinea side with considerable international experience.
He said expectations had been low before the match but felt Kenya had done enough to make the result closer than many had anticipated.
“I'm very proud of the players for the fight and people expected us to lose by three, or four, or five, but I think Guinea today was very fortunate that we didn’t make use of the opportunities that we created,” he said.
The result leaves South Africa top of Group D with six points, followed by Guinea on three, while Kenya and Eritrea have one point each. Kenya are already assured of a place at AFCON 2027 as co-hosts alongside Uganda and Tanzania, meaning the qualifiers are also providing McCarthy with competitive matches to assess and develop his squad ahead of the tournament.
Kenya will next face South Africa in November in their remaining Group D fixtures as McCarthy looks to address the finishing and decision-making issues that proved costly in Conakry.
