Kenya’s Harambee Stars had just returned from Kigali, where they had settled for a 1-1 draw against Rwanda’s Amavubi in their second-round fixture of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers. On arrival, the then coach Jacob ‘Ghost’ Mulee had tendered his resignation leaving a vacuum in the top seat.
Arrival of Firat as Kenya coach
On October 7th, anxiety gripped the media fraternity as they arrived for the presser. “With Mulee gone, who will replace him?” was the question on the lips of many. With the venue filled, FKF President Nick Mwendwa and his battalion walked majestically from one of the rooms accompanied by a “new coach”, he was the one to take over the reins at Harambee Stars.
“Without wasting your time members of the press, I introduce to you our new head coach Engin Firat (53), on a short-term deal but with an option to make it permanent after the World Cup qualifiers,” said Mwendwa.
And that is how Firat, who was once a member of the Eintracht Frankfurt and Fenerbahce technical staff between 2000 and 2002, arrived in Kenya. He took up the role after he had left little-known Moldova, whom he had handled since 2019, and guided them to a historic 2-1 friendly victory against the then World Cup champions France in Paris and a 0-0 draw against Russia.
Keeping the faith with Firat
Two weeks later, Firat took charge of Kenya for the first time as they suffered an embarrassing 5-0 away defeat against Mali in a World Cup qualifier and later a 1-0 defeat against Les Aigles in the reverse fixture at home. It was not a good start for a coach, who no one in the East African nation had heard of before.
“We have to keep the faith with Firat, I know what he can do, I know he is the right man for this job, we have lost two matches but again we still have more matches to come, I don’t want to act (sack him) because some people want me to, no, I will give him time,” said Mwendwa then after pressure had mounted to have Firat fired.
In total, Firat has so far overseen 14 games for Kenya in all competitions, managing six wins, six defeats, and registering two draws and one of his memorable results remains the 2-1 friendly win against World Cup hosts Qatar.
“It was a good win against a team that managed to host the World Cup, I am happy the boys delivered victory one of my best, and happy for the Kenyans in Qatar because it gives them confidence. I know how it feels to live in a foreign country, now they have something when they go out they walk with pride,” Firat told the media after the game.
Firat, started the 2025 World Cup qualifying campaign with a 2-1 defeat against Gabon before recovering to hammer Seychelles 5-0. With Burundi and Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) winners Ivory Coast the next opponents in the qualifiers, Firat had the opportunity to gauge his players in Malawi for the Four-Nation tournament that brought together the hosts, Zimbabwe and Zambia as part of the FIFA Series friendly matches.
Kenya looked dominant in their opener as they dispatched the Flames 4-0 with lead striker Michael Olunga notching a brace before they defeated Zimbabwe 3-1, courtesy of a hat-trick from the Al Duhail forward in the final, to lift the trophy, the first under Firat’s reign.
“The tournament in Malawi has shown why it is important to stick to a coach and give him time, we want to support Firat because I know, he will take us somewhere, we are not in a rush, he has bonded well with the players, and ours is to give him the support he wants to deliver,” Mwendwa told Flashscore.
Is Firat winning over the fans?
FKF Premier League outfit Kakamega Homeboyz chairman Cleophas Shimanyula opined that patience from FKF to stick with Firat had started to bear fruits and that if given support the Turkish tactician could take Kenya to the World Cup for the first time.
“It will be so dishonest not to give Engin (Firat) his flowers…rivalry aside, he has cooked and is still cooking, you can’t take it away from him, for once he has proved me wrong and I can see he is working on something good,” Shimanyula told Flashscore.
Shimanyula’s sentiments were echoed by FKF NEC member for Eastern region Nabea Murithi, who said: “I told you this is the best foreign coach this country has ever gotten, and given adequate support he can deliver the required results.”
However, former Kenya striker Elijah Onsika is not convinced Firat is on the right track arguing unless he produces victories against top sides in Africa, then he remains a failure.
“I can only rate Engin (Firat) after he beats teams like Ivory Coast, Nigeria, or even South Africa, winning against Malawi and Zimbabwe, does not make him a great coach, he has yet to convince me he deserves to coach Kenya,” Onsika told Flashscore.
“That tournament was not very competitive, we can’t praise him for that one or two wins, and despite the outcome the Kenyan game is still down, he won against Qatar in a friendly but what happened when it came to the qualifying match?”
Firat has indeed integrated well with the team, giving a rare chance to upcoming players in the FKF Premier League, a good example, is defender Daniel Anyembe, who featured against Malawi and assisted Olunga for the second goal, and Vincent Mahiga, who was handed a late call to replace Aboud Omar, and earned his debut against the Flames before facing the Warriors.
