NEWS
18 teams for African Schools Football Championship CECAFA Zonal qualifiers
The Council of East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA) has confirmed that eighteen teams will compete in the CECAFA Zonal qualifiers of the Pan African Schools Football Championship.
Kenya will host the Schools Championship at the Kasarani Annex Stadium in Nairobi between December 10-13th, 2023.
Auka Gecheo, the CECAFA Executive Director also made it clear that Eritrea will enter a team in the Boys category. ” We are happy that Eritrea who have not participated in many of our recent tournaments will finally send a team to the Schools Championship, ” added Gecheo.
He said eleven boys teams and seven for girls will compete in the Championship with the champion in each category to represent the Zone at the Africa Schools Championship expected to take place in April next year.
” After the inaugural Zonal Championship played in February this year in Tanzania, we expect a more competitive event this year, ” added Gecheo. Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia and Djibouti will each field the boys and girls teams, while Somalia, Eritrea, South Sudan and Sudan will only have a boys team.
In the inaugural Championship held in February this year Uganda’s Royal Giant High School and Fountain Gate Dodoma School (Tanzania) emerged champions of the boys and girls categories respectively. Fountain Gate Dodoma School went on clinch the African Schools Championship girls trophy when the tournament was held in South Africa.
A 10-man Sudan team has defeated Lebanon 2-1 to qualify for the group stage of the FIFA Arab Cub 2025.
After all the three other teams from the CECAFA Zone South Sudan, Somalia and Djibouti had fallen out in the qualifying stage, coach James Kwesi Appiah’s team played their hearts out to advance.
Sudan’s John Robia was sent off for a second bookable offence after 24 minutes at the Thani Bin Jassim Stadium in Qatar. Six minutes later Khalil Khamis gave Lebanon the lead after a failed clearance in the box.
The Sudan team reorganized and created some good scoring opportunities. Sudan’s Mohamad Haider scored an own goal two minutes to recess.
In the second half the Lebanon team with an advantage of a player more piled more pressure, but failed to find the net. Yasser Jolak scored for Sudan after 73 minutes to make it 2-1. The Sudan team defended in numbers till the final whistle.
Sudan now join Group D that also has defending champions Algeria, Iraq and Bharain. Sudan will also use the tournament to prepare ahead of the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) slated for December 21st to January 18th, 2026 in Morocco.
In earlier matches involving teams from the CECAFA Zone, Oman edged Somalia 4-1 on penalties after the match had ended goalless, while Bahrain stopped Djibouti 1-0.
After the qualifying round, the 2025 FIFA Arab Cup, the 11th edition of the Arab Cup will officially take place December 1-18 in Qatar.
The world Football body, FIFA has selected Rwanda among the nations that will host the FIFA Series in 2026.
FIFA confirmed that several countries including Rwanda and Mauritius from Africa for the men’s category will host the FIFA Series 2026 to take place during the international match window in March and April.
The FIFA Series for both men and women offers national teams from different continents a unique platform to compete and connect beyond their traditional confederation boundaries.
Last year Tanzania was the only team from the CECAFA Zone that played in the first edition of the FIFA Series that also featured Bulgaria, Mongolia and Azerbaijan.
“The FIFA Series is about unlocking development potential for players, coaches and fans, while promoting football’s universality and diversity through meaningful matches. The 2026 edition will further enhance that impact for men’s and women’s football alike,” said FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
The men’s FIFA Series will be hosted by Rwanda, Australia, Azerbaijan, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Mauritius, Puerto Rico and Uzbekistan. The women’s FIFA Series will debut with events in Brazil, Côte d’Ivoire and Thailand.
The FIFA Series is aligned with FIFA’s Strategic Objectives for the Global Game: 2023-2027, which focus on creating more opportunities for competitive balance, technical growth and cross-continental exchange.
CECAFA teams Nairobi United, Azam FC and Singida Black Stars FC all got off to a wrong start in the group stage of the 2025/2026 TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup.
The reigning CECAFA Kagame Cup champions Singida Black Stars FC suffered a 2-0 away defeat to CR Belouizdad in Algeria on Saturday.
Abdennoriheb Belhocini and Abdelraouf Benguit scored for the home side at the Nelson Mandela Stadium in Algiers. Singida Black Stars FC tried to push forward, but failed to find goals.
On Sunday another Tanzanian side Azam FC suffered a 2-0 defeat to Maniena Union at the Martyrs Stadium in Kinshasa. Balako Christian Panzi and Christopher Pindi netted for the DR Congo side.
Later on Sunday night a 10-man Nairobi Utd team suffered a 3-0 defeat away to Wydad AC at the Mohammed V Stadium in Casablanca.
Ayoub Boucheta and Mohamed Bouchouari gave the Moroccan side a 2-0 first half lead. Mohamed Rayhi added the third goal, and Nairobi Utd’s Brian Mzee was sent off few minutes to the end of the match.
Action for the CECAFa teams returns this weekend with Azam Fc hosting Wydad AC on November 28th at the New Amaan Complex, while Singida Black Stars FC host AS Otoho, and Nairobi Untd host Maniema Union the next day.
Teams from the CECAFA Zone Sudan, Somalia, Djibouti and South Sudan have set eyes on the first qualifying round of the FIFA Arab Cup 2025 in Qatar.
Victory for any of the 14 teams in the first qualifying round will send them straight to the group stage.
South Sudan will take to the field first against Syria on November 25th at the Graid Hamad Stadium in Doha.
Somalia, fresh from picking a morale boosting win against highly ranked Bahrain in an International friendly match will face Oman on November 26th in Doha.
On the same day Djibouti will face Bahrain, while Sudan who will also feature in the AFCON 2025 will take on Lebanon. After the first qualifying round action will shift to the group stages from December 1-18th, 2025.
The 2025 FIFA Arab Cup will be the 11th edition of the Arab Cup, the Arab world’s national team football tournament. It will be the second edition under FIFA’s jurisdiction, with previous editions having been organized by the Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA).
Algeria are the defending champions.
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