Junior Starlets to face Uganda in a crucial World Cup qualifier

Kenya’s Junior Starlets will rock horns against Uganda’s Teen Cranes in the second round of the 2025 FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup qualifiers in March.
The first leg matches are set for 7-9 March while the second leg will take place on 14-16 same month.
Uganda advanced to the second round after an impressive 18-0 aggregate win over Namibia. They thrashed Namibia 10-0 in the first leg at the Nakivubo Stadium on Thursday followed by an 8-0 victory on Sunday at the same venue.
Junior Starlets, the Under-17 girls’ national team, on the other hand were granted a bye in the first round of the qualifiers because they participated in last year’s edition in the Dominican Republic.
Zambia and Nigeria, Africa’s representatives at the last edition, were also granted a bye.
Now, Kenya eyes a spot in the global showpiece for a second time, which is set to take place in Morocco later this year in what will be the first time this tournament is held in Africa.
Coached by Mildred Cheche, The Starlets made history as the first Kenyan football team to participate in a global tournament.
In the 2024 showpiece, Kenya were grouped in pool ‘C’ together with defending champions North Korea, semifinalists England and 2018 finalists Mexico.
The team exited the tournament after a third-place finish with three points after a memorable 2-1 victory over Mexico in the final group match.
The winner of the second round will advance to the third and final round scheduled for 18-20 April (first leg) and 25-27 April (second leg). If Kenya progresses to this round will face the winner between Egypt and Cameroon or Zimbabwe and Ethiopia.
Africa aims to field five representatives for the tournament.
The Kenya Academy of Sports recently fielded two Kenya u-17 teams at the just concluded CAF u-17 Girls Integrated Football Tournament in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and they hope the tournament will provide a good pool to select players from.
The KAS team beat Boni Consilli Girls 2-0 in the third-place playoff, while the Kenya Elite Junior Academy (KEJA) finished fifth after beating Aigle Noir 4-0 in the playoff.