Okumu and Diakite seek World Cup slots
And with the 2026 World Cup fast approaching, an interesting twist presents itself in the football script of the two teammates. Okumu and Diakite, teammates in Champagne, 6600 km from Nairobi, face off in the qualifiers on June 10, 2024, and the Ivorian cannot wait to take on his club teammate.
"It will be special to play against him. It is always special to play against someone who is your friend. I want to beat him; it is a personal fight. Not like I want to play against him to show him that I am the best, no. I respect him, he is a good player. I respect all the Kenyan people, I respect the Kenyan national team, but this is personal - I just want to win against my friend," Diakite said in an exclusive interview with the The Standard.
Kenya's Harambee Stars are in Group F for the Africa World Cup qualifiers alongside Ivory Coast, Gabon, Burundi, Gambia, and Seychelles. Stars are set to face each of the teams twice, including Ivory Coast, before the qualifiers come to an end in October 2025.
In Group F, Ivory Coast leads with a Fifa ranking of 39 globally and fifth in Africa, while Gabon comes in second with 86 globally and 17th in the continent. Kenya is the third-best-ranked team, 111 globally and 26th in Africa.
Despite the glaring discrepancy between the Elephants of Ivory Coast and Harambee Stars both on paper and on the field, Diakite is wary of Kenya's ability, citing the East Africans' demolition of Seychelles on match day 2 of the qualifiers.
"Football changes everywhere, especially in Africa like we saw in the last Africa Cup of Nations - every country has developed. Last time I saw Kenya beat Seychelles 5-0. So I think they have a good team also," the former RB Leipzig man said.
Afcon demons still haunt Diakite
With the game against Kenya coming up in June, Diakite is still being haunted by demons from the 2023 Afcon despite winning the tournament.
The Elephants survived group stage exit by a whisker after they were trampled 4-0 by Equatorial Guinea, and that match still lives in the memory of the man who sent his home country to the semifinals with a winner at death in extra time.
"That game was like a nightmare. It is difficult to explain. Even in a dream, it is not possible to imagine we lost 4-0 to Equatorial Guinea. It was a great accident because it is not possible to lose 4-0 and go on to win the tournament if you do not have a good team. We have a good team, we have so many great players and this is football," said the 20-year-old.
Harambee Stars World Cup chances
Previously, the World Cup featured 32 teams, with Africa having only five slots. However, the 2026 edition, jointly hosted by the North American nations of Canada, Mexico, and the United States, will be an expanded one featuring 48 teams. Africa has been allocated nine slots and can win an extra slot through the inter-confederation play-offs.
Harambee Stars commenced their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign with a 2-1 loss to hosts Gabon last November before picking up an emphatic 5-0 victory over Seychelles on match day two a few days later. Okumu missed both matches after picking up an injury against PSG on November 11, 2023.
Harambee Stars head coach Engin Firat has already expressed his skepticism about Kenya's ability to qualify for the World Cup, terming it a huge miracle if it happened.
Sad tale of Kenya's World Cup qualification history
Kenya has made 13 attempts to qualify for the World Cup - the first attempt dating back to 1974. Harambee Stars have never succeeded in their pursuit of playing at the global tournament.
In the 13 unsuccessful attempts, Harambee Stars has played a total of 74 matches, losing the biggest chunk (32 of them), winning 24, and drawing 18 times.
The closest that Kenya came to sealing a slot at the World Cup was in 1997 under now-deceased German tactician Reinhard Fabisch. Stars held the Super Eagles of Nigeria to a 1-1 draw in Nairobi but lost 3-0 in the return leg in Abuja.