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Victor Wanyama. Author @cfcunofficial (Chelsea Debs) London.

10 Most Popular Kenyan Football (Soccer) Players

The Kenyan national football team is popularly known as Harambee Stars. It competes as a member of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and the Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA), a sub-confederation of CAF. Unfortunately, the team failed to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup competition.

1. Michael Olunga

Michael Olunga Ogada (born 26 March 1994) is a Kenyan professional footballer who plays as a striker for Qatari club Al-Duhail and the Kenya national team. He is regularly known as “The Engineer” by Kenyan football fans.

 He left a mark in the Afcon 2019 qualifiers as one of his goals helped Kenya down Ethiopia 3-0 in Nairobi. He went on to score a brace against Tanzania in the same tournament.

At club level, Olunga’s notable achievement came when he grabbed a hat-trick for Girona in a span of 22 minutes against Las Palmas during his debut for the Spanish club last year. He is both the first Kenyan star and the first Girona player to score a hat-trick in La Liga.

Honors include; Kenyan Super Cup: 2013, KPL Top 8 Cup: 2013, Kenyan Premier League: 2014, 2015, Kenyan Super Cup: 2015, J2 League: 2019, Emir Cup: 2022 amongst others.   

2. Mahmoud Abass

Fondly referred to as Kenya One owing to his prowess, Abbas is considered as one of Kenya’s greatest goalkeepers of all time having featured for AFC Leopards and Harambee Stars. He was part of the Harambee Stars squad that won the CECAFA Senior Championships three times consecutively in 1981, 1982 and in 1983.

Abass had gifted hands which helped him help the country win matches even during their darkest times. He will always be remembered as the finest goalkeeper Kenya has ever produced at all footballing levels.

He was always included in the Harambee Stars squad and helped AFC leopards win a three-peat in the Cecafa. He possessed great reflexes that allowed him to save penalties from all sides and angles of the goal post.

3. Bobby Ogola

John “Bobby” Ogolla is a former Kenyan international defender and football manager. He previously served as assistant coach to Kenyan Premier League sides Sofapaka F.C. and Gor Mahia F.C. He played for Kisumu Hot Stars before moving to Gor Mahia in 1979.

Bobby Ogola was nicknamed the Six Million Dollar Man after he was the lead character in a 1980s TV series.

 He wore the legendary number 4 jersey for the Kenyan national team and turned coach after playing for Gor Mahia, further helping them clinch numerous titles. His performance for the national team was exceptional.

4. Victor Wanyama

Victor Wanyama. Author @cfcunofficial (Chelsea Debs) London.

He is the current National team captain and has played for Celtic, Tottenham Hotspurs, amongst other times. Notably, he was part of the final squad for Tottenham Hotspur in the UEFA Champions League Final 2018-2019. He was also the first Kenyan to play in the English Premier League.

He is considered as the most influential midfielders the country has ever produced. Wanyama has played for 4 European sides, Beerschot in Belgium, Celtic in Scotland, Southampton and Tottenham Hotspurs in England. During his spell in Beerschot, he played 56 games scoring 2 goals, and in 2011 he moved to Celtic where he played 61 games scoring 10 goals and won the Scottish Premier League twice in 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons. He also helped the team win the Scottish cup in 2013 before moving to Southampton in 2013.

Wanyama earned over 60 caps for the Kenyan national team since making his international debut in May 2007 at age 15.

Honours include; Scottish Premier League: 2011鈥�12, 2012鈥�13, Scottish Cup: 2012鈥�13, UEFA Champions League runner-up: 2018鈥�19 amongst. Individually he won; PFA Scotland Team of the Year (SPL): 2012鈥�13, SPL Young Player of the Year: 2012鈥�13, SPL Young Player of the Month: December 2011 etc.

5. Joe Kadenge

鈥淜adenge na Mpira鈥�-the famous Kenyan footballing chant that was always heard on the pitch was inspired by Joe Kadenge. He was arguably the best footballer the country has ever produced. His pure talent had an endearing influence on many Kenyans.

 After playing for the Abaluhya FC in 1968, he also coached Tiriki FC before joining Maragoli FC in 1975 as a player. After 2 years, he coached Maragoli FC which was the first Kenyan team to tour Netherland in Europe for a match. He also coached the national team in 2002 and won the Cecafa with them.

6. Dennis Oliech

 As referred by many Kenyans, The Menace, Dennis was a beast at his peak with lightning pace, physique, and great positioning.  He played as a striker and helped the country qualify for the 2004 Africa Cup of Nations after scoring a stunner during stoppage time win against Cape Verde. Other than his great performance for his club, he also captained the national team and scored 34 goals for the country.

He was successful at Al-Arabi in Qatar between 2003-2005 scoring 12 goals in 17 appearances and was featured in The Guardian as one of the most promising young footballing talents alongside Wayne Rooney and Robin Van Persie. He has also played for Nantes and Auxerre scoring a total of 25 goals.

7. David Owino

Owino has played for two top clubs so far in his career; Gor Mahia and Zesco United, and ensured K’Ogalo won the KPL in 2013 after an 18-year wait. He won it again in 2014 before leaving for Zambia at the end of the season.

Owino played a prominent role in the success of Kenya in the Cecafa tournament in 2012 and 2013 when football was seen as rising in the country, and he got his nickname ‘Calabar’ due to his superb performance for the national team against Nigeria in a 2014 World Cup qualifier in Calabar where Kenya pulled off a 1-1 draw.

With Zesco United, Owino lifted the Faz Super League title in 2015, 2017, 2018 and in 2019. He has also won the Copa Barclays in 2016 and the Community Shield Cup in 2015 and 2017 while serving Team Ya Ziko.

8.Francis Kahata

The offensive midfielder played a pivotal role as Kenya fought to earn a slot in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt.  He also helped Kenya win the Cecafa Cup in 2013 after faltering the year before.

The former KF Tirana and Thika United star was a key member of the Gor Mahia team which won the league unbeaten in 2015, helping them win back-to-back titles in 2017, 2018 and 2019 before leaving for Simba at the start of the 2019/20 season.

9.Allan Wanga

Wanga became the only Kenyan to win the Angolan Premier League title with Petro Atletico in 2010 after his three-year stay with them, and was also the hero as the national side won the 2013 Cecafa title. On that occasion, the captain struck twice against Sudan to lead by example.

In 2013, again, Wanga was among the players who led AFC Leopards to lifting the FKF Shield Cup after a three-year wait as he scored against his future club Tusker for Ingwe’s 2-0 win.

Wanga won the KPL title with Tusker in 2016 and scored the only goal which ensured they grabbed the GOTV Shield Cup against Gor to give the Brewers a treble that year.

He was the joint top scorer in the 2018/19 season with 17 goals alongside Enosh Ochieng of Ulinzi Stars and Umaru Kasumba, then serving Sofapaka.

10.Duncan Ochieng

Arguably the most outstanding goalkeeper Kenya produced within the last 10 years.

Although Ochieng has now retired, and is in charge of the goalkeeping training department at Tusker, he achieved a great deal over the last decade, setting him apart from his peers.

Ochieng won KPL titles with Tusker in both 2011 and 2016, and was part of the Kenyan team which reached the Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup finals in 2012 and 2013, when the Stars won a sixth regional title.