Junior Starlets thrash Samoa to reach round of 16 at Women's U-17 World Cup
Junior Starlets players celebrate a goal against Uganda during a Fifa U-17 World Cup qualifying match at Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi on Mach 16, 2025.
Photo credit: Sila Kiplagat | Nation Media Group
By Nation Team
Nation Media Group
Kenya's Junior Starlets on Sunday night made history by qualifying for the Round of 16 of the 2026 Fifa U-17 Women's World Cup in Morocco.
The Starlets, coached by Mildred Cheche, thrashed Oceania side Samoa 4-0 in their final Group ‘E’ match to qualify as one of the four best third-placed teams in the tournament.
The match was played at the Mohammed VI Football Academy in Salé, Morocco.
Having already lost two matches, the Kenyan girls needed a big win and other results to go their way to stay alive. That they delivered in style.
Striker Mwanakombo Bakari set the tone with a goal after just four minutes to give Kenya a 1-0 lead, before striker Brenda Awuor doubled the advantage on the stroke of half-time in the 44th minute.
The Starlets returned from the break hungrier. Forward Gaudancia Maloba made it 3-0 in the 62nd minute with a powerful finish, and two minutes later Bakari completed her brace to seal a famous 4-0 victory.
The result lifted Kenya to third in Group ‘E’ with three points, finishing four points behind group winners USA and China, who played to a 1-1 draw on Sunday night in the other group match.
Kenya had begun the tournament on a difficult note, losing 3-0 to China in their opener before falling 6-1 to the USA in their second group match, with Lindey Weey scoring Kenya's first goal of the tournament.
But Sunday's emphatic win improved their goal difference to -4, proving decisive in the race for the best third-placed slots.
A missed penalty by Weey late in the game would have made it 5-0, but the four goals were enough.
It is a historic first for the country. This is only the second time Kenya is playing at the U-17 Women's World Cup.
On their debut at the 2024 edition in the Dominican Republic, the Starlets were knocked out in the group stages.
The Kenyan girls finished third in Group ‘C’, with three points, after losing to England (2-0) and North Korea (3-0) and beating Mexico 2-1 in their final match.
That appearance earned the team a piece of history for being the first Kenyan team to qualify for a Fifa World Cup tournament.
However, they missed last year’s tournament in Morocco after a 4-1 aggregate loss to Cameroon in the qualifiers.
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