Harambee Stars face what can only be termed as a Goliath-David battle when they play the Senegal national team later today in the final Group C match.
Nicknamed the Lions of Teranga, the Senegalese national football team currently seats at the apex of FIFA African team rankings with a whopping 1515 points while Kenya's Harambee Stars sits humbly, as they should, at position 24 having garnered 1207 points. The points also mean Senegal is currently the 25th ranked country in the world while Kenya is 105th; a clear day and night gap.
But this is football, anything can happen and that's why we love it.
So what needs to happen for Kenya to progress to the last 16?
Kenya and Senegal are currently tied at three points each. With the group leader, Algeria, having already qualified with 6 points, the group awaits to know its second-placed team.
The second placed team automatically qualifies for the last 16, therefore the simple answer is beat Senegal by any margin of goals, get the three points and problem solved.
While we wish Harambee Stars the best, beating Senegal is not an easy task, so at the risk of sounding pessimistic, let's see what other scenarios guarantee Stars a last 16 berth.
This year's AFCON last 16 will accommodate four of the best third-placed teams, that is to say, once the automatic positions are taken by 1st and 2nd placed teams in their respective groups, the focus will shift to all the third-placed teams where, depending on how many points you have and goals scored, the four teams with the best tally will progress.
Harambee Stars currently have three points, same as South Africa and DR Congo, the latter having played all three games. The other third-placed teams are Benin and Angola each with two points. Harambee Stars will hope to end up better than any two of these teams.
Therefore, a draw will almost guarantee the stars a last 16 berth while a loss will mean they pray Benin and Angola lose too.