Kenya’s Junior Starlets inch closer to World Cup return after edging South Africa
By Luke Oluoch, July 4, 2026Kenya’s U17 women’s team, the Junior Starlets, are 90 minutes away from a second appearance at the FIFA U17 World Cup after outsmarting South Africa 2-0 in the first-leg encounter at the Lucas Moripe Stadium in Durban on Saturday, July 4, 2026.
Goals from Faith Boke and Brenda Achieng gave Starlets the crucial edge ahead of their final round of the youth qualifier return leg clash on home soil on Sunday, July 12, 2026.
The third and final round of qualifiers pits the two African youth teams for a final berth for a World Cup spot after they eliminated Uganda and Tanzania in their second round clashes.
Mildred Cheche’s team survived an early scare as the determined host got off to a strong start, buoyed by their home advantage and a sizable fan base at the stadium.
The girl defied the odds and got the lead via Faith Boke’s strike in the 13th minute. The young attacker supplied another goal to her strike against Namibia in Kenya’s opening round games.
The goal only upped the intensity as coach Ntombifuthi Khumalo’s girls came all blazing
The efforts were rewarded with a penalty won seven minutes later.
It took Mishel Ng’ono’s heroics as the last line of defense to pull off the crucial save and keep the advantage intact as the game grew more intense.
Achieng doubles lead
South Africa went for more offensive changes with Okuhle Sithole and Leonay Kock replacing Lusakhanya Situlweni and Katlego Mogale as the second half got underway.
A tactically astute Kenya got their noses further in front as Brenda Achieng doubled the lead to relieve pressure on the visitors at the hour mark
The marauding striker extended her goal-scoring prowess from the concluded CECAFA regional games as Kenya took a huge leap in the first-leg encounter.
The fierce encounter saw the ladies brave a lengthy added time to clinch the crucial advantage.
Kenya’s attention now turns to Sunday, July 12, 2026, when Bantwana comes to town for the crucial return leg.
The encounter will be the final hurdle in the U17 Women’s qualifiers, with the winner between South Africa and the East Africans booking their ticket to the 10th edition of the Women’s World Cup scheduled to be played in Morocco between October 17, 2026, and November 7, 2026.
South Africa’s away threat
The task, however, remains far from done.
Cheche and the girls must stay alert against those who seem to have developed an uncanny trend of getting the job done on enemy territory.
Bantwana received a bye in the opening round when the Central African Republic (CAR) withdrew from the competition. They then progressed to face a stubborn Tanzania in Zanzibar, with the visitors emerging 2-0 winners in the first leg
The reverse fixture played on their home turf ended 0-0.
Kenya will now need to avoid defeat to secure their place in the upcoming U17 World Cup, where they will join hosts Morocco along with Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China PR, France, Germany, Japan, Korea DPR, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Puerto Rico, Samoa, Spain, USA, and Venezuela.
Kenya made their debut on the global stage after successfully qualifying for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Dominican Republic 2024.