Rwanda has qualified for the second round of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup 2026 qualifiers.

After stopping Zimbabwe 2-1 in the first leg few days ago, Rwanda followed it up with a goalless draw in the return leg played on Wednesday in Kigali Pele Stadium.

Coach Andre Cassa Mbungo’s team will now prepare to face Nigeria in the second round.

South Sudan who have a 5-0 advantage over Djibouti will return to action against the same side on Friday in the second leg as they look destined to book a place in the second round.

The second round of the qualifiers will be played in September 2025 with Ethiopia facing Kenya, and Tanzania battling Angola in some of the matches. Uganda will take on Namibia, while Burundi battle Zambia in some of the other matches.

Four teams will qualify to represent Africa at the 2026 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup to take place in Poland.

Tanzania suffered a 1-0 defeat to hosts Egypt in a Group A match played on Friday at the on-going TotalEnergies CAF U-20 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).

The defeat was Tanzania’s fourth straight defeat at the competition which has brought together 13 teams.

Ahmed Sharaf gave Egypt an early lead at the Suez Canal Stadium in Ismailia.

Despite going down early in the match, Tanzania dominated more of the match and with 17 shooting attempts against Egypt’s seven.

Bakari Msimu and Jammy Simba had some decent scoring chances later in the match, but failed to finish.

Tanzania who followed Kenya out of the competition kick started their campaign with a 1-0 defeat to South Africa, lost by the same margin against Sierra Leone and suffered another 1-0 defeat to Zambia.

Egypt joined Ghana, South Africa, DR Congo, Nigeria, Senegal, Morocco and Sierra Leone at the quarter final stage.

The semi-finalists will qualify as the CAF representatives for the 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup to take place in Chile.

The inaugural CECAFA 2025 Beach Soccer Championship will kick start the season for the Zone.

Kenya will host the inaugural Championship at the Pirates Beach from June 6-11, 2025.

Yusuf Mossi, the CECAFA Competitions Director made it clear that they expect eight teams to take part in the Championship.

“We have also sent out invites to other Member Associations outside our Zone and we we expect positive responses,” added Mossi.

He explained that the inaugural Beach Soccer Championship will lay good foundation for more Beach Soccer competitions in the CECAFA Zone.

“We already have Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, Tanzania and Zanzibar who have confirmed participation and we expect more in the next few days,” added Mossi.

Besides the CECAFA Beach Soccer Championship, the other tournaments lined up include; CECAFA Senior Challenge Cup, Dar Port-Kagame Cup, CAF U-17 Zonal qualifier, CAF African Schools Football Championship Zonal Qualifier, CAF Women’s Champions League Zonal Qualifier and the CECAFA Women’s Challenge Cup.

Kenya’s Rising Stars have held Nigeria to a 2-2 draw in their last Group C match at the on-going TotalEnergies CAF U-20 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).

Kevin Wangaya gave Kenya the lead from the penalty spot after only 4 minutes on Wednesday evening at the 30 June Stadium in Cairo, Egypt. Nigeria’s Emmanuel Chukwu had handled the ball in the box.

It was the third time the Kenyan side had taken the lead at the tournament. But 9 minutes later Nigeria leveled matters through Kparobo Arierhi with a well taken lob.

After recess the Rising Stars returned charged and pushed forward in search of more goals. William Mwangi netted Kenya’s second goal after 64th minute tapping in from a free-kick cross. But Nigeria’s captain Daniel Bameyi equalized from the penalty spot after Kenyan forward Lawrence Okoth fouled in the box.

Nigeria who have lifted the U-20 AFCON title a record seven times pressed hard, but failed to find the winning goal. Nigeria qualified for the knock out stage after finishing second, while Morocco who beat Tunisia 3-1 finished top.

Kenya exit the tournament after earning only one point. They kick off with a 2-3 defeat to Morocco, and lost the second match 3-1.

Tanzania who have lost all their three Group A matches will play their last match against hosts Egypt on Friday.

Morocco topped the group with seven points following a 3–1 win over Tunisia. Nigeria secured second place with five points, while Tunisia ended third with three points.

The four semi-finalists will qualify as the CAF representatives for the 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup to take place in Chile.