27 June 2026 – South African U17 Women’s National team coach Ntombifuthi Khumalo has named a squad of 23 players to face Kenya in the crucial third and final round of the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup qualifiers.
Bantwana will host the East Africans in the first leg on Saturday, 4 July 2026 at the Lucas Moripe Stadium before travelling to Kenya for the return fixture scheduled for Sunday, 12 July. Khumalo has kept the bulk of the team that was triumphant over Tanzania in the second round, making only three changes with Akhona Simamane, Sinenhlanhla Dutywa and Leonay Kock taking the places of Palesa Jacobs, Mpondo Monyamane and Mmasello Ledwaba. The squad assembled for camp on Friday, 26 June in Johannesburg.
This will be the final hurdle in the U17 Women’s qualifiers with the winner between South Africa and the East Africans booking their ticket to the 10th edition of the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup scheduled to be played in Morocco between 17 October and 7 November this year. Both Bantwana and Kenya have travelled different paths to the third round.
South Africa received a bye in the opening round when the Central African Republic (CAR) withdrew from the competition. Bantwana then progressed to face a stubborn Tanzania in Zanzibar, with the visitors emerging 2-0 victors in the first leg, while the reverse fixture ended 0-0 with South Africa winning 2-0 on aggregate.
Kenya began their journey away from home as they defeated Namibia 2-1 and continued where they left off with a resounding 5-0 win in the second leg, gaining a 7-1 aggregate victory. In the following round, Kenya and Uganda played to a 1-1 draw away in Nairobi while the return leg failed to produce any goals, with Kenya progressing to the third and final round thanks to the away goal rule.
The African continent has been allocated five spots at the FIFA Women’s World Cup, with hosts Morocco taking one of them. The four remaining nations will join 20 other countries to complete the 24-country line-up for the annual women’s youth football global showpiece.
Already qualified for the World Cup are the hosts, Morocco along with Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China PR, France, Germany, Japan, Korea DPR, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Puerto Rico, Samoa, Spain, USA and Venezuela.
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