{"id":2000121503,"date":"2026-08-05T09:45:25","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T07:45:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/?p=2000121503"},"modified":"2026-08-05T09:51:29","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T07:51:29","slug":"rayon-sports-book-date-with-gor-mahia-in-cecafa-kagame-cup-finale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/rayon-sports-book-date-with-gor-mahia-in-cecafa-kagame-cup-finale\/","title":{"rendered":"Rayon Sports book date with Gor Mahia in CECAFA Kagame Cup finale"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The hosts secured a convincing 3-1 win over South Sudan’s Jamus SC at Kigali Pele Stadium, while three-time champions Gor Mahia edged Sudan’s Al Hilal SC 8-7 on penalties after the two teams played to a 1-1 draw.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The victory keeps Rayon Sports’ hopes of lifting the regional title on home soil alive as they head into Friday’s final at Amahoro Stadium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Francis Haringingo’s side continued their impressive run in the tournament, making it four wins from four matches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rayon Sports took control of the second semi-final early, with Akbar Muderi opening the scoring in the 17th minute after capitalising on a defensive lapse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The victory keeps Rayon Sports’ hopes of lifting the regional title on home soil alive as they head into Friday’s final at Amahoro Stadium.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Jamus SC responded with spells of possession but struggled to break through Rayon’s disciplined backline, while goalkeeper Dande Junior produced a crucial save before halftime to preserve the lead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Blues doubled their advantage in the 59th minute when 19-year-old Ibrahim Mansouru Djingarey finished calmly to send the home supporters into celebration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jamus pulled one back through substitute Diallo Bandiougou in the 70th minute after taking advantage of a defensive mistake, briefly reviving their hopes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, substitute Gloire Ngongo Tambwe put the result beyond doubt with two minutes remaining, slotting home Rayon’s third goal to seal a deserved 3-1 victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking after the match, Rayon Sports head coach Francis Haringingo said his team is now focused on going all the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I am happy that we have won all our four matches played in the tournament and this also gives us good preparations ahead of the new season,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“After reaching the final, our objective is to win the trophy.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Head coach Francis Haringingo (right) and fitness coach Serge Mwambali (left) celebrate the victory with applause.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Earlier in the day, Gor Mahia overcame a resilient Al Hilal side in a dramatic first semi-final.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Steven Ebuela’s own goal handed the Kenyan champions the lead in the 34th minute before Ansumana Samura equalised for Al Hilal 10 minutes later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Neither side could find a winner during regulation or extra time despite Gor Mahia playing with 10 men after Ebenezer Ocran was sent off for a second bookable offence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Gor Mahia overcame a resilient Al Hilal side in a dramatic first semi-final.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Kenyan side eventually prevailed 8-7 in the penalty shootout to book their place in the final.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gor Mahia head coach Charles Akonnor praised his players for overcoming one of the tournament favourites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I thank the players for playing their hearts out and winning against a strong Al Hilal team,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Friday’s final at Amahoro Stadium promises a thrilling contest between two of East Africa’s biggest clubs, with the winners set to walk away with the tournament’s top prize of $30,000 (about Rwf 44 million). The runners-up will receive $20,000 (Rwf 29 million), while the third-placed team will earn $10,000 (Rwf 15 million).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Rayon Sports players celebrate their triumph over Jamus SC in the CECAFA Kagame Cup semi-final.<\/strong>
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Rayon Sports fans went wild after their team booked a place in the CECAFA Kagame Cup finale.<\/strong>
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rwanda’s Rayon Sports will face Kenyan giants Gor Mahia in the 2026 CECAFA Kagame Cup final after both sides emerged victorious in contrasting semi-final encounters on Tuesday in Kigali.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":2000121541,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[151],"byline":[192],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-2000121503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-editors-choice","byline-wycliffe-nyamasege"],"bylines":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":131}],"contributors":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":131}],"featured_image":{"id":2000121541,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/MixCollage-05-Aug-2026-09-50-AM-1382.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":886,"height":600,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/MixCollage-05-Aug-2026-09-50-AM-1382.jpg","width":886,"height":600},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/MixCollage-05-Aug-2026-09-50-AM-1382.jpg","width":886,"height":600},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/MixCollage-05-Aug-2026-09-50-AM-1382.jpg","width":886,"height":600},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/MixCollage-05-Aug-2026-09-50-AM-1382.jpg","width":886,"height":600},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/MixCollage-05-Aug-2026-09-50-AM-1382.jpg","width":886,"height":600}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000121503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2000121503"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000121503\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2000121540,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000121503\/revisions\/2000121540"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000121541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2000121503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2000121503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2000121503"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=2000121503"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=2000121503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}