The 2026 CECAFA Kagame Cup gets underway on Friday, 24 July, with two intriguing Group A fixtures set to ignite the annual regional club championship at Kigali’s Amahoro Stadium.
Twelve teams are competing in this year’s tournament, with Group A widely regarded as the toughest pool, featuring regional heavyweights APR FC, Gor Mahia, Vipers SC, and tournament debutants Garde Républicaine of Djibouti.
The headline fixture of the opening day sees Kenyan giants Gor Mahia lock horns with hosts APR FC in a mouthwatering 7:00 pm encounter. Making their return to the competition after missing the 2025 edition, the three-time Kagame Cup champions will be eager to begin their campaign on a positive note as they chase a fourth regional crown.
K’Ogalo, buoyed by several high-profile arrivals during the ongoing transfer window, will also be looking to improve on their group-stage exit in the 2024 tournament and finally end a long wait for the title, having last lifted the trophy in 1985.
Standing in their way, however, are Rwanda’s APR FC, another three-time champion determined to make home advantage count. The military side, which won the tournament in 2004, 2007, and 2010, will be targeting a strong start as they seek to go one better than last year, when they finished third after defeating KMC of Zanzibar in the bronze medal match. With only the top teams progressing directly to the semi-finals, victory for either side would provide an early advantage in the race for qualification.
Earlier in the day, defending Uganda Premier League champions Vipers SC will launch their campaign against CECAFA newcomers Garde Républicaine in the tournament’s opening fixture at 3:00 pm. The 2018 Kagame Cup winners are back after sitting out the 2025 edition and will be hoping to mount another serious title challenge.
Vipers reached the final in 2024 before falling to Zambia’s Red Arrows and will be keen to go one step further this time around. Their opponents, Garde Républicaine, are making their maiden appearance in the competition and will be aiming to announce themselves on the regional stage with a positive result against one of East Africa’s established football powers.
Kenya’s other representatives, Tusker FC, will carry similar ambitions into Group C, where the 2008 champions remain the last Kenyan side to have won the tournament. Their participation, alongside Gor Mahia’s, underlines Kenya’s determination to reassert itself on the regional stage this year.
With four ambitious sides battling in a fiercely competitive Group A, the opening day promises an exciting start to the 2026 CECAFA Kagame Cup.
