Kenya lands Bayern, Ajax for stadium opener

Bayern Munich and Ajax Amsterdam will bring European football royalty to Nairobi on January 5, 2027, when the two giants face off in a historic friendly to officially open Kenya’s new national stadium ahead of the Pamoja Africa Cup of Nations.

The match will mark Bayern’s first-ever visit to Kenya, giving local fans a rare opportunity to watch one of Germany’s most successful clubs in action as the country prepares to co-host Africa’s biggest football tournament alongside Uganda and Tanzania.

The game will be played at the Raila Odinga International Stadium, popularly known as Talanta Sports Stadium, a new facility built in Nairobi as part of Kenya’s preparations for the 2027 AFCON.

Between them, Bayern and Ajax have won 10 European Cup and UEFA Champions League titles, making their meeting a fitting way to introduce the stadium to the international football community.

Kenyan President William Ruto announced the fixture, describing the new facility as a symbol of the country’s ambition to attract the biggest names in world sport.

“The great citizens of our republic, look up and look around. This majestic stadium has changed Nairobi’s skyline. Two years ago, I promised the people of Kenya a world-class stadium where the greatest teams in the world would come to play,” Ruto said.

He confirmed that the stadium would officially open with the January 5 encounter between Bayern and Ajax.

“This match will be delivered by corporate partnerships and a self-sustaining commercial model, confirming that world-class sport can attract private investment, earn its own revenue and create lasting opportunity for our people,” he said.

Ruto described the occasion as bigger than the opening of a sporting facility, saying it reflected Kenya’s ambitions for the future.

“Fellow citizens, this is more than the opening of a stadium. It is a statement of who we are and most importantly, who we are becoming. We dream of the very best and we go get it,” he added.

Tickets will go on sale on November 5 through talantasportscity.com.

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— William Samoei Ruto, PhD (@WilliamsRuto)

October 28, 2026

Bayern return to Africa

For Bayern, the Nairobi trip will be their first appearance on African soil since December 2013, when they won the FIFA Club World Cup in Morocco.

Under coach Pep Guardiola, the German side defeated Guangzhou Evergrande 3-0 in the semi-finals before beating Moroccan outfit Raja Casablanca 2-0 in the final to lift the trophy.

The victory over Raja was Bayern’s first competitive match against an African club. Their only other encounter with African opposition came at the 2020 FIFA Club World Cup in Qatar, where Robert Lewandowski scored twice in a semi-final win over Egypt’s Al Ahly.

The friendly against Ajax will give the Bavarians another chance to connect with African football, this time in East Africa, where excitement is already building ahead of the 2027 AFCON.

Ajax, meanwhile, have their own history on the continent through Ajax Cape Town, the South African club founded in 1999. The Amsterdam side held a majority stake in the club before selling its shares in 2020.

Old rivals meet again

The Nairobi fixture will also renew an intriguing rivalry between two of European football’s most successful clubs.

Bayern and Ajax last met in December 2018 in the Champions League group stage, producing a thrilling 3-3 draw in which four goals arrived in the final 10 minutes.

Their record across 10 competitive meetings is remarkably even. Both clubs have won three times, while the other four matches ended in draws. Their last three encounters have all finished level.

Joshua Kimmich featured for Bayern in that memorable 2018 meeting, which remains their most recent competitive encounter.

Their January showdown will offer Kenyan supporters a chance to witness the two European heavyweights while giving both clubs an opportunity to strengthen their international profile.

Bayern’s African links

Although no Kenyan player has ever featured in the Bundesliga, Bayern have enjoyed a long association with African football through players, partnerships and youth development.

Former and current African football stars associated with the German club include Sammy Kuffour, Sadio Mané, Nicolas Jackson and Ismael Saibari.

Several other Bayern players, including Michael Olise, Dayot Upamecano, Alphonso Davies, Serge Gnabry and Jonathan Tah, have African heritage. Their coach, Vincent Kompany, also has African roots.

The club’s involvement in African football extends beyond the first team.

Senegalese midfielder Bara Sapoko Ndiaye moved to Munich in 2026 from Gambinos Stars Africa in The Gambia, which has a youth partnership with Bayern in West Africa.

Bayern also support the FC Bayern Youth Academy in Kigali, Rwanda, while their women’s team established a partnership with Cameroon’s Petrichor Football Association in 2024.

The Nairobi match will provide another opportunity for the club to strengthen its connections with the continent.

East Africa counts down to AFCON

The stadium’s inauguration comes as Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda prepare for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations, officially known as CAF AFCON Pamoja 2027.

The tournament will run from June 19 to July 17, 2027, marking the 36th edition of Africa’s premier men’s national-team competition.

It will be the first time three countries jointly host AFCON and the first time the tournament returns to the CECAFA region since Ethiopia staged it in 1976.

Nairobi will be among the host locations in Kenya, while Tanzania will stage matches in Dar es Salaam, Arusha and Zanzibar. Uganda’s designated host cities are Kampala, Hoima and Lira.

The tournament will feature 24 national teams, with 48 countries involved in the qualification campaign across 12 groups. The top two teams in standard groups will qualify for the finals, while a special arrangement applies to the co-hosts’ groups, where only the highest-ranked non-host will advance.

For Kenya, the Bayern-Ajax encounter is an opportunity to showcase its new stadium and demonstrate its ability to stage major international football events before the continent’s biggest teams arrive for AFCON.

For Uganda and Tanzania, it offers an early glimpse of the international attention the region can expect as preparations gather pace.

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