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Rising Starlets into 2026 Women’s U-20 World Cup qualifiers third round
Rising Starlets players from left, Fasilah Adhiambo, Valarie Nekesa, and Elizabeth Mideva celebrate after scoring a goal against Ethiopia during 2026 Fifa Women's World Cup qualifiers on September 28, 2025, at Ulinzi Sports Complex in Nairobi
With the right backing, Kenya’s Rising Starlets captain Fasila Adhiambo believes they can down Tanzania in the third round of the 2026 Fifa Women’s Under-20 World Cup qualifiers.
The two nations will meet in February next year for the right to play in the fourth and final round of qualification to the global event.
On Sunday, Kenya emphatically booked a ticket to the third round after hammering Ethiopia 4-0 at Ulinzi Sports Complex in Nairobi.
Forward Elizabeth Mideva scored a brace while Valerie Nekesa and captain Fasila Adhiambo were also on target for Kenya to hand them a huge 5-1 aggregate win.
Kenya held Ethiopia 1-1 in the first leg in Addis Ababa on September 21.
“We thank the FKF and anyone else who have supported us until this far. If they continue supporting us, I want to assure you that we will not let you down. We just need that support to continue making you proud,” said Adhiambo.
The team coached by Jackline Juma is hoping to emulate their under-17 counterparts, Junior Starlets, who made a historical appearance at the Fifa World Cup in the Dominican Republic last year.
Kenya was cheered by a sizable crowd that included school-going children.
The hosts took a commanding 3-0 halftime lead thanks to stunning goals from Nekesa, Mideva and Adhiambo in the fourth, 17th and 28th minutes, respectively.
Mideva grabbed her second in the 67th minute.
She was Kenya’s lone scorer in the first leg.
Coach Juma said they were confident of winning the second leg and had planned to score early and put the game away.
“We were aiming to score a goal in the first 10 minutes, given that in Ethiopia, we scored after 36 seconds,” said Juma.
It was end-to-end stuff in the early stages before the hosts got the much-desired breakthrough.
Nekesa capitalised on a mix-up in the box to tap in a delivery from the right.
Earlier, Ethiopia had come close to breaking the deadlock, but Emush Daniel Dandambo’s header from Dagimawit Selemon Abose’s dangerous cross was not good enough. Mideva doubled Kenya’s advantage in the 17th minute after connecting to another cross from the right.
