Estonia eliminated Kenya’s Harambee Stars in their first match of the ongoing FIFA Global Series match played at the Amahoro stadium in Kigali, Rwanda on Friday night.
Kenya lost 5-4 in post-match penalties following a 1-1 draw in regulation time.
Estonia scored first through Tanel Tammik in the 20th minute, but Ryan Ogam fired into the goal beating Karl Andre Valner to level in the 50th minute from Zech Obiero assist to level.
After the 90th minute, the match went straight into penalties.
Kenya scored their opener through Austin Odhiambo, Lawrence Ouma, Erastus Erambo, and Ben Omondi but second half substitute Mohammed Bajaber missed his spot kick and, in the decider, Odada saw his shot go over the bar for Estonia to carry the day.
However, it was Estonia who took the lead against the run of play. A move initiated from the right wing ended up giving Estonia their first corner of the game. Kristo Hussar delivered the resultant corner-kick which Tanel Tammik rose the highest to head home past Ian Otieno in the Kenyan goal.
Kenya was forced into an early change in the 40th minute when Job Ochieng pulled an injury and was replaced by Ben Omondi.
Despite Kenya’s dominance, Estonia went into the half-time break leading 1-0.
Harambee Stars started the second period on a high and it took them 10 minutes to level the scores when Zech Obiero found space between Estonia defence to split a pass to Ryan Ogam for the leveler.
Kenya dominance continued but getting a second goal proved difficult even with changes that saw Obiero, Abiud Omar, and William Lenkupae Wilson being replaced by Austin Odhiambo, Erastus Erambo, and Lawrence Ouma before goalscorer for Kenya, Ogam was later replaced by Mohammed Bajaber,
The FIFA Series was approved by the FIFA Council in December 2022 and is fully aligned with FIFA’s Strategic Objectives for the Global Game: 2023-27.
The 2026 edition of this initiative will feature 48 national teams – representing almost a quarter of FIFA’s 211 Member Associations – competing in 12 groups of four teams each.
