Federation of Uganda’s Football Associations-FUFA together with Nile Breweries through its flagship brand Nile Special have launched a drive for garnering funds that will facilitate the National Football team in its bid to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

This comes nearly five years after FUFA President Moses Magogo announced Uganda’s intention to field Uganda Cranes in the FIFA World Cup 2026, which will be hosted jointly by Canada, Mexico, and the United States of America. Magogo stated that Uganda hopes to participate in the world’s largest football tournament for the first time in 2026.

Now, the newly established effort named #CranesKabbo aims to raise at least 400 million shillings in support of the Cranes. According to the agreement, for every Nile Special bottle purchased, 50 shillings will be donated to the campaign.

While launching the campaign today at FUFA Complex in Mengo Former Uganda Cranes captain Denis Onyango who was named the brand ambassador of the campaign; said that this campaign will help to boost the team with what it takes to qualify for the world cup.

“I’m proud to always associate with the National Team even after my role as an active player. I feel proud to be part of this noble cause of giving a push to the Uganda Cranes in achieving the dream of qualifying to the World Cup' @masindeonyango #CranesKabbo pic.twitter.com/7v85wWY13R

— Uganda Cranes (@UgandaCranes) November 18, 2022

“I feel proud to be part of this noble cause of giving a push to the Uganda Cranes in achieving the dream of qualifying for the World Cup,” Onyango said. “Nile Special was with us in qualifying for the Africa Cup of Nations twice and I believe this lucky charm will continue with this new target.”

John Paul Ssemakula, the Connections Manager at Nile Special told journalists that this campaign will add a stone to the already existing efforts to see Uganda qualify for the 2026 world cup.

“As Nile Special, we feel proud to associate with FUFA and the Uganda Cranes in bid to realize the dream of playing at the biggest stage of football,” he said. “We believe this is a dream that can be achieved through collective effort and it is the reason why we are here today to launch the Cranes Kabbo campaign.”

Uganda Cranes Head Coach Milutin Sredejovic Micho says the campaign comes at the right time when Africa is expected to take more teams at the World cup than ever before and the campaign will boost the Cranes to achieve their dream.

“I believe Uganda has the ability to be part of this number and definitely with such support from Nile Special, this dream will become a reality,”Micho briefly said.

The world cup tournament was started in 1930 and since its inception, several countries across all continents have been taking part, but Uganda has not been fortunate enough to qualify for at least a single edition.

But Uganda’s absence at the world cup, just like many other African countries; has oftentimes been linked to Africa’s limited number of World Cup slots. For a continent with 54 member countries, it only gets five spots and this started in 1998 which makes Africa’s World Cup qualification one of the most difficult to negotiate.

However, the 2026 World Cup will feature 48 teams, guaranteeing Africa at least four more spots. According to Micho, this improves the likelihood that Uganda will perhaps be one of the nine teams.

There is a common adage that a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. And for the Uganda Cranes, the journey to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup officially starts today after the launch of the Cranes Kabbo campaign. #CranesKabbo pic.twitter.com/ot8PhioNmy

— Uganda Cranes (@UgandaCranes) November 18, 2022