Kenya’s hopes of participating in this year's Fifa Under-17 Women’s World Cup have been dashed following a 4-1 aggregate loss to Cameroon.
The loss prompted the team’s assistant coach, David Bujego, to call for a strategic shift.
Bujego said the team will redirect its efforts towards preparations for World Cup qualification next year after losing 3-1 on Friday night at the Olembe Stadium, Yaoundé, Cameroon. Kenya’s Junior Starlets’ lost 4-1 on aggregate.
Cameroon had won 1-0 in the first leg, played at the Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi last Sunday. This defeat gave the double African champions (2016, 2018) a place in the World Cup to be hosted in Morocco from October 17th to November 3rd of this year.
“We are officially out of contention for this year's World Cup. Correspondingly, we will now retreat to the drawing board and strategize and prepare for next year's qualifiers," Bujego told journalists in a post-match press conference on Friday.
“Our opponents, Cameroon, played very good defence, converted their chances well, and ended up beating us. It was just not our day,” he said.
Bujego is an assistant coach, sharing that role with ex-Kenyan International Ann Aluoch, emphasizing the power of experience in the coaching team.
He also mentioned a primary cause of the loss, adding that his team was unable to capitalize on many of their scoring opportunities, which ultimately cost them. He emphasized the importance of converting chances into wins in football.
“I can confidently say that football success relies heavily on the ability to convert scoring opportunities. Our failure to do so in the first and second halves of the match cost us dearly. We were unable to capitalize on those instances to score,” he continued.
Cameroon's advantage going into the second leg was from Tiwa Milongs' 23rd-minute first-leg match opener.
In the return leg, the hosts, Avana Beatrice, opened the scoring in the seventh minute, holding the lead in the entire first half.
The Kenyan girls under Mildred Cheche's were able to pull one back in the second half when the former captain, Elizabeth Ochaka scored from the penalty spot in the 49th minute.
Just four minutes after Kenya's goal, Cameroon's Tiwa Ange responded with a second goal, capitalizing on a lapse in the Kenyan defense, before Lys Franche added a third goal for Cameroon in the 86th minute, sealing the victory and confirming Cameroon's place in the World Cup.
As the host nation, Morocco qualified automatically for the World Cup and will be the first African country to host the global tournament, and will also continue to host the annual tournament for five consecutive years from 2025 to 2029.
With the expansion of the tournament, Africa will now be represented by five nations. The annual tournament itself will see an increase in the number of participating teams, expanding from the present 18 teams to a total of 24 nations.
Côte d'Ivoire has also won a much-desired World Cup spot for the first time in their maiden bid. They did so by defeating Guinea with a 2-2 aggregate score through the away goals rule.
African giants Nigeria, who participated in last year's World Cup in the Dominican Republic alongside Kenya and Zambia, will also be returning to the tournament. They qualified with a 4-0 aggregate win over Algeria.
Zambia, on the other hand, were holding a 2-1 lead over Benin going into the second leg of their qualifying tie. The decisive return leg was scheduled to take place on Saturday at Stade de Kégué in Lomé, Togo.
