Rayob Sports supporters who filled Amahoro Stadium enjoyed a night and story they had inherited from another generation but finally it became their own.
KIGALI – Twenty-eight years in football is a long time, enough for an entire generation of supporters to grow up hearing stories about a triumph they had never witnessed.
On Friday night, those stories finally became reality for Rayon Sports fans as their team defeated Kenya’s Gor Mahia 2-1 after extra time to win the 2026 CECAFA Kagame Cup and reclaim the regional crown they last lifted in 1998.
The final whistle at Amahoro Stadium sparked scenes of celebration that had been nearly three decades in the making.
Players collapsed to the ground in relief, thousands of supporters erupted into song, and blue scarves filled the Kigali night as “Gikundiro” ended one of the longest waits in the club’s illustrious history.
It was not just another trophy. It was the return of one of Rwanda’s biggest football institutions to the summit of East and Central African football.
A Generation Finally Sees History
Rayon Sports won the CECAFA Kagame Cup for the second time following the club’s 1998 triumph.
For younger Rayon Sports supporters, the club’s 1998 CECAFA triumph had become part of football folklore. They had watched their team come close, suffer painful exits and repeatedly fall short of reclaiming the regional title.
This year, however, felt different.
Rayon Sports arrived at the tournament unbeaten and steadily grew into the competition, overcoming every challenge to reach a final that many believed could redefine the club’s recent history.
Even before the decisive match, confidence was growing beyond the club’s supporters.
After Rayon Sports booked their place in the final, Sports Minister Nelly Mukazayire congratulated the team and expressed confidence that the trophy would remain in Rwanda.
“Oh Rayon! Congratulations on the harvest, the goal was to keep it going strong… The cup remains ours this Friday,” she said. By the end of Friday night, her prediction had come true.
A Night That Tested Every Nerve
It was a tough game from start to end.
If the occasion was historic, the match itself demanded every ounce of resilience. Junior Kameni gave Rayon Sports the lead in the first half, sending Amahoro Stadium into celebration.
But Gor Mahia responded after the break through Shariff Sabuni Odhiambo, silencing the home crowd and setting up a tense finale.
With neither side able to find a winner in regulation time, the final moved into extra time.
Then came the moment that will forever live in Rayon Sports history.
Substitute Daniel Muhoza struck the decisive goal to restore the lead and ultimately hand Gikundiro their first CECAFA Kagame Cup title in 28 years. The celebrations that followed reflected just how much was at stake.
Supporters who had sung through moments of anxiety, prayed as extra time unfolded and illuminated Amahoro Stadium with thousands of phone flashlights finally saw the trophy they had waited decades to celebrate.
By 9pm, the stadium had become a sea of celebration. Players danced on the pitch as fans abandoned their seats, while music filled the stadium, including Rayon Sports anthems and songs such as “Intsinzi” and “Thank You Kagame.”
And then came a fitting touch of history.
Rwanda football legend Haruna Niyonzima, a four-time CECAFA Kagame Cup winner with APR FC and Young Africans SC, walked into the stadium carrying the trophy before handing it over for the official presentation.
It was a symbolic moment where one of Rwanda’s most decorated regional footballers carried the trophy into the hands of another generation.
More Than Just Another Trophy
When the celebrations shifted from the pitch to social media, Rayon Sports captured the emotions of their supporters in a message that quickly resonated across the country.
“After 28 years of waiting… we are champions. Twenty-eight years later, the kings of CECAFA are back,” the team said.
The words reflected more than excitement. They summed up a journey that had tested the patience and loyalty of generations of fans.
Since lifting the trophy in Zanzibar in 1998, Rayon Sports had experienced quarter-final exits, semi-final heartbreak and years without another appearance in the final. Yet the club never lost its place in the hearts of its supporters, whose belief rarely wavered even during the difficult years.
Friday’s victory therefore represents not just the end of a 28-year wait, but restores a sense of regional prestige to one of Rwanda’s most successful clubs and offers a new generation of supporters’ memories they can now call their own instead of borrowing from the past.
The victory also places Rayon Sports in a special position in the history of the competition on Rwandan soil.
Celebrated Somalia’s refree Omar Abdulkadir Artan was in charge.
The club becomes only the second Rwandan team to win the CECAFA Kagame Cup at home since the competition came under the sponsorship of President Paul Kagame.
APR FC had previously achieved the feat, winning the title in 2004, 2007 and 2010. ATRACO FC are the other Rwandan club to have won the regional competition, claiming the 2009 title in Sudan.
A Trophy, a Prize and New Heroes
The triumph comes with a financial reward where Rayon Sports will take home US$30,000, approximately Frw 44 million, as winners of the 2026 CECAFA Kagame Cup. Gor Mahia receive US$20,000 as runners-up, while Sudan’s Al-Hilal SC take home US$10,000 after finishing third.
The prize was presented to Rayon Sports by Prime Minister Dr Justin Nsengiyumva, alongside Sports Minister Nelly Mukazayire, FERWAFA President Fabrice Shema and CECAFA President Paulos Weldehaimanot Andemariam.
But the individual honors also reflected how strongly Rayon Sports performed throughout the tournament.
The club was named the tournament’s Fair Play Team, while goalkeeper Dande Junior was recognized as the best goalkeeper after conceding only two goals.
Captain Emmanuel Nshimiyimana “Kabange” was named Player of the Tournament, adding an individual honour to the night in which he helped lead his club back to the regional summit.
The tournament’s top-scoring award was shared by Djibril Outtara of APR FC and Ansumana Samura of Al-Hilal SC, who finished with three goals each.
As Kabange lifted the CECAFA Kagame Cup into the Kigali night, the significance of the moment stretched far beyond one final or one season. For Rayon Sports, it was the end of nearly three decades of waiting.
For the supporters who filled Amahoro Stadium, it was the night a story they had inherited from another generation finally became their own.
And for Rwandan football, it was another reminder that the CECAFA Kagame Cup can still produce the kind of nights that stay with a club and its supporters for generations.
