4 July 2026 – The South African U17 Women’s National team, Bantwana, suffered a 0-2 defeat to Kenya in the first leg of the third and final round of the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup qualifiers played at the Lucas Moripe Stadium in Atteridgeville on Saturday.
Two strikes on either side of halftime by Faith Boke (13’) and Brenda Achieng (60’) were enough for the East Africans to take the advantage into the second leg scheduled for Sunday, 12 July in Kenya. Bantwana Head Coach Ntombifuthi Khumalo said they will regroup and come back stronger in the second leg.
“We didn’t play well in the first half as per the plan, but we managed to talk to the girls because they were nervous, and then second half we tried to control the game. The result is not good for us, but I was happy with the chances that we created, now we need to work more on how to convert. I saw a lot of improvement in this game, and we will go back and correct some mistakes and go to the second leg with confidence,” Khumalo.
The scoreline could have been different had captain Katlego Malebana converted from the spot kick, but her shot was saved by Kenya goalkeeper Michel Okoyo Ng’ono, who was alert to the danger.
“I always say the difficult game is playing at home, especially when you play such games because you have a lot of pressure not to concede, but I am positive with my team that we will come back in the second leg.
Khumalo made some changes in the second half but the result remained the same. Now Bantwana have it all to do in the return fixture in Kenya. The South Africans leave for East Africa on Thursday.
The overall winner between the two countries will qualify for 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.
South African Football: The team has participated in various international tournaments beyond AFCON and the World Cup.
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