Guinea 1-0 Kenya: Guirassy revives Syli in Conakry
Guinea beat Kenya 1-0 in Conakry on Thursday 1 October in the second round of AFCON 2027 qualifiers. Serhou Guirassy's goal in the 32nd minute revives the Syli, who are now three points behind South Africa in a group where only one ticket is still up for grabs.
Contribution SNA · Author profile · · Updated 15/10/2026 11:08 UTC
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The Syli National in their team kit. File photo published by SNA in February 2026.
Serhou Guirassy broke the deadlock in the 32nd minute. The Borussia Dortmund striker scored the only goal of Guinea v Kenya in Conakry on Thursday 1 October, giving the Syli National their first points in the AFCON 2027 qualifiers. The win partly makes up for the opening defeat in South Africa (2-1).
The victory marks the team's return to the 28 September Stadium. After several years of playing their home matches elsewhere, Guinea were back in the renovated venue, now cleared to host the game. For Paulo Duarte's players, the homecoming carried special significance: win in front of their own supporters after losing the first match.
Scorers, stats and line-ups: the Guinea v Kenya match sheet is available on SNA.
Two saves from Mohamed Camara
Before Guinea took the lead, the Kenyans had their chances. Micah Obiero found himself clear on goal around the 10th minute, but Guinea goalkeeper Mohamed Camara stopped him.
At the break, Benni McCarthy brought on Timothy Ouma and Ryan Ogam to give Kenya's attack a lift. Ogam created a chance inside the area in the 55th minute, but Camara again protected Guinea's lead. Kenya kept pushing for an equaliser without managing to break the Syli down.
Only one place up for grabs, and South Africa out in front
Kenya, who are co-hosting AFCON 2027 with Uganda and Tanzania, qualify automatically whatever their results. In each of the three host nations' groups, only the best side among the other three wins a ticket.
After matchday 2, South Africa lead with six points and seven goals scored for one conceded, after their win over Guinea and then a 5-0 victory against Eritrea. Guinea follow with three points and a goal difference of zero, ahead of Kenya and Eritrea, who have one point each.
The Syli are back in action in November with a double-header against Eritrea. They will need to keep this momentum going to stay in touch with South Africa, before they meet the Bafana Bafana again in March 2027.
Results and stats on SNA
- 26 Sept.: South Africa v Guinea (2-1)
- 1 Oct.: Guinea v Kenya (1-0)
Coming up: find more news from the campaign in our AFCON 2027 hub.