12 July 2026 – The South African U17 Women’s National team went down 1-3 to their counterparts from Kenya in the second leg third round 2026 FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup qualifier at the Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi, Kenya on Sunday.
Bantwana bowed out on a 5-1 aggregate after losing the first leg 2-0 at the Lucas Moripe Stadium a week ago. In a match that started with a minute of silence to remember the late Bafana Bafana and Mamelodi Sundowns midfielder, Jayden Adams, South Africa knew they had a mountain to climb.
However, they got off the mark quickly and silenced the packed Nyayo National Stadium as they took the lead in the fifth minute though captain Katlego Malebana.
The status quo remained until the 70th minute when Kenya staged a comeback in the second stanza with three goals from Gaudancia Maloba (70’), Brenda Awour (86’ pen) and substitute Elizabeth Opiyo (90’).
Kenya now qualifies for their second U17 women’s football global showpiece for the second time in a row.
“Firstly, let me congratulate the Kenyans for their win. We lost the game in the first leg back at home and we knew it was not going to be easy coming here in front of such a big crowd. The journey has ended for us, but I must applaud our girls they fought a good fight, but it is unfortunate that sometimes the results don’t go your way. We have learnt our lessons, and now we have to look forward to the next projects because we still have players in this team who are 15 and 16 years old that can continue in this age group. It hurts that we were so close and yet so far, but we will go back home and regroup for the next edition,” said a devastated Khumalo.
The South Africans return home on Monday morning while the East Africans join hosts Morocco, Ghana, Nigeria and Zambia at the 2026 edition of the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup.
The 24-nation tournament is scheduled to take place from 17 October to 7 November.
The African qualifiers complete the participating countries at the tenth edition of the junior competition:
Qualified U17 teams:
Morocco (host), Ghana, Zambia, Kenya, Nigeria, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China PR, France, Germany, Japan, Korea DPR, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Puerto Rico, Samoa, Spain, USA, Venezuela.
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