The Kenya Junior Starlets’ dream of qualifying for a second straight FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup ended on Friday night in Yaounde, Cameroon.

Hosts Cameroon defeated Kenya 3-1 in a return leg of the third round of the qualifiers in a match played at the Olembe Stadium. Cameroon qualified on a 4-1 goal aggregate.

Beatrice Avana gave the hosts the lead after 7 minutes, but Elizabeth Ochaka leveled matters for Kenya six minutes into the second half. The hosts added two more goals through Ange Tazanou and Tiwa Lys.

Cameroon joined other African teams Cote d’Ivoire and Nigeria to qualify for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup 2025.

The last match between Benin and Zambia on Saturday will decide the fourth team to book the final place. Morocco have also qualified as hosts of the competition.

Tanzania kick started their Group C campaign with a 4-4 draw against Madagascar on Thursday night in the on-going CAF Women’s Futsal Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Rabat, Morocco.

Donisia Minja netted a brace for Tanzania on the night at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Complex. Aisha Mnuka and Stumai Abdallah also got their names on the score sheet.

Tanzania will be hoping to get a positive result in their last Group C match against Senegal on Saturday to be able to progress to the semi-final stage. Madagascar who drew 5-5 in their opening match against Senegal lead the Group with 2 points, while Senegal are second and Tanzania in third place.

In the other matches played on Thursday in-form Angola maintained their unbeaten run to stop Egypt 3-1, while Morocco humbled Cameroon 7-1.

The inaugural CAF Women’s Futsal Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) has attracted nine teams.

The finalists will qualify for the FIFA Futsal Women’s World Cup, scheduled to take place in the Philippines from 27 November to 7 December, 2025.

Results

April 22

Angola 5 Guinea 2

Madagascar 5 Senegal 5

Morocco 8 Namibia 1

April 24

Angola 3 Egypt 1

Madagascar 4 Tanzania 4

Morocco 7 Cameroon 1

CECAFA representatives Tanzania will take to the field on Thursday when they face Madagascar in their Group C opening tie of the CAF Women’s Futsal Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Rabat, Morocco.

The inaugural competition which has attracted nine teams starts today at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Complex and will climax on April 30^th, 2025.

The Tanzania team will conclude their Group C match with a match against Senegal on April 26^th. Each team will play two matches in the group stage, with the top team from each group and the best second-placed team advancing to the semi-finals.

The finalists will qualify for the FIFA Futsal Women’s World Cup, scheduled to take place in the Philippines from 27 November to 7 December, 2025.

This inaugural competition comes in the wake of growing momentum for women’s football across the continent. It represents a significant step forward, offering African national teams a new platform to compete and demonstrate their talent.

Group A: Morocco, Cameroon, Namibia

Group B: Angola, Egypt, Guinea

Group C: Senegal, Tanzania, Madagascar

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.