Dominant Kenya suffer defeat to Cameroon in FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup qualifier

Hosts Kenya have suffered a 1-0 defeat to Cameroon in the first leg of the final round of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup qualifiers played on Sunday.

The Kenya Junior Starlets kicked off the match on a high with Brenda Achieng missing the target after only 10 minutes at the Nyayo Stadium in Nairobi.

Against the run of play Cameroon took the lead through Tiwa Melong who placed the ball past Kenya’s goalkeeper Velma Abwire. After a few minutes the hosts created another opportunity, but Joan Ogola’s strike flew over the bar.

After recess, the Junior Starlets attacked on numbers and created many more scoring opportunities through Ogola, and substitutes Mitshell Waithera and Patience Asiko. Cameroon’s goalkeeper Jessica Mabou also made several important saves.

Mildred Cheche, the Kenya Junior Starlets coach said that although the team had played well, they failed to take the scoring chances. “We did all we could but Cameroon defended well to deny us a goal, they scored and resorted to play defensively,” said Chechje who added that have another 90 minutes to play for in the return leg.

Cameroon will host Kenya in the return leg on April 25th, at the Stade Olembe in Yaounde.  The aggregate winner will qualify for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup 2025 to take place in Morocco.