If the drama on the pitch was tense, what followed online after Kenya and Tanzania both crashed out of the CHAN 2024 quarterfinals was pure theatre.
Kenya’s Harambee Stars had fallen earlier in Nairobi, losing 4-3 on penalties to Madagascar after a 1-1 draw. Minutes later in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania’s Taifa Stars were undone by a lone Oussama Lamlaoui strike for Morocco.
For many Kenyans, the pain of their own heartbreak was swiftly numbed by the sight of their neighbours also packing their bags, and the banter began.
At the Kenya National Archives, some fans refused to go home after the Harambee Stars’ game. Instead, they gathered to 'hate-watch' Tanzania’s clash, cheering Morocco’s goal as if it were their own. Soon after, chants of “Morocco kiboko yao! (Hail Morocco!)” erupted across Nairobi’s CBD.
Online, Kenyan fans sharpened their keyboards. One posted: “Faith Kipyegon has more Olympic gold medals than Tanzania and Madagascar combined.”
Another added after Morocco’s winner: “Jirani apikwa, akaangwa, adhalilishwa na Morocco kiwanjani Benjamin Mkapa! (Tanzania humiliated by Morocco at Benjamin Mkapa Stadium!).”
The contrast was striking.
Hours before kick-off, Tanzanian fans had confidently circulated a poetic prediction of how their Taifa Stars would tear Morocco apart, naming their stars Feisal, Kapombe, and Kagoma as warriors destined to slay.
But after the final whistle, the same poem was being gleefully quoted back at them by Kenyans, now mocking their neighbours for failing to deliver.
One Kenyan summed it up bluntly: “Jirani mkaidi atemwa nje ya kinyang’anyiro cha CHAN. Morocco ni underdog huku Kenya, sasa tumewaachia majirani kuonja. (Stubborn neighbour eliminated from CHAN. Morocco is the underdog to Kenya, but now we have let Tanzanians face the challenge).”
By the end of the night, Tanzanian fans had gone quiet online, while Kenyan masters of digital banter had turned their quarterfinal heartbreak into a carnival of memes, chants, and witty put-downs aimed squarely at their next-door neighbours.
In CHAN 2024, Kenya and Tanzania may have bowed out together, but online, only one side claimed victory.
Focus now shifts to Uganda, which faces the 'Lions of Teranga', Senegal, today, August 23, at 5:00 pm, East African Time (EAT).
