A majority of Kenyans acknowledged the prowess of the Cameroon U17 women’s side after they eliminated their Kenyan counterparts to book a place in the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup.Follow our WhatsApp channel for more news The Junior Starlets were hosted by the Baby Lionesses for the second leg of the third and final round FIFA U17 World Cup qualifier at the Olembe Stadium in Yaounde, Cameroon, with the hosts emerging 3-1 winners.The result meant that Cameroon proceeded to the World Cup on a 4-1 aggregate win after emerging 1-0 victors in the first leg match played on Sunday, 20 April at Nyayo National Stadium.Kenya U20 midfielder opens up on Juventus opportunity, career path, ahead of U20 AFCONIn the Friday night encounter, Cameroon took the lead in the sixth minute through Avana Ze Beatrice to give the hosts a first-half lead.Kenya levelled the scores in the 50th minute through Elizabeth Ochaka, who converted from the spot after a Cameroonian defender handled the ball in the box.Kenya’s joy lasted only two minutes as Tazanou Ange restored Cameroon’s lead after being put through on goal by Ze Beatrice.##NAJAVA_MECA_8884600##Cameroon captain Tiwa Melong converted from the spot to complete the scoring and ensure that her side went through to the World Cup.Reacting to the elimination, a majority of Kenyans acknowledged that Cameroon were the better side according to comments sampled by Mozzart Sport, largely from Harambee Starlets’ Facebook page and popular fan group KPL Chat.“We met a more technical team that deservedly beat us. They didn’t outplay us across both legs but were highly disciplined, took their chances, and on the balance of play, it’s a deserved World Cup qualification,” said Mozzart Sport senior writer Kevin Teya.Gor Mahia’s proposed 60,000 seater stadium and location elicits mixed reactions from fans“We fought like lionesses. The day was not ours, and we have to accept the results. We hope for improvement in the coming seasons,” said Jared Ageng’o.Alban Ojiambo was also in agreement and tipped the team to come back stronger in the next edition.“Congrats for all the effort you made to this point. It was a steep learning curve, and you gave your best, we will come back stronger next time,” said Ojiambo.##NAJAVA_MECA_8884597##Linet Wekesa, on her part, encouraged the technical bench to scout far and wide for the best talents.“The girls gave their best, but Cameroon were clearly the better side. Better gifted as well as technically better than us. Maybe the technical bench should go beyond Nairobi and find players who can physically match the West African sides because we were clearly disadvantaged physically.”For Jessen Opiyo, Kenya’s blunt forward line was to blame for Junior Starlets’ World Cup miss.Benni McCarthy’s shadow looms large as Rising Stars eye World Cup spot at U-20 AFCON“Tactically, we were the better team, although our finishing was wanting and we lacked that killer punch in front of the goal. Cameroon won this game from the individual brilliance of some of their players, such as Melong,” he noted.Still on Facebook, Elizabeth Wanjiru blamed coach Mildred Cheche’s fielding in both legs for the two losses.“Cheche has been good for the national team and has done remarkably well since she took charge, but got it all wrong in both legs against Cameroon.##NAJAVA_MECA_8884586##In the first leg, she withdrew Brenda Achieng, who is our best striker, after just 27 minutes, with Kenya wasting numerous chances in the second half that Brenda would have at least buried one.In the second leg, the decision to start Brenda on the bench in a match that we are chasing did not make any sense to me. I believe that a combination of Brenda and Lindey Weey would have resulted in victory in both matches.”Eunice Achieng believes that the Junior Starlets should go the Harambee Stars way.Golden Glove race heats up as Harambee Stars goalkeeper makes his case“We need foreign-based players and Kenyans born and developed in Europe, akin to what happens at Harambee Stars. Those players generally make our teams look better and give us an upper hand to compete.”The FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup will take place from Friday, 17 October 2025 to Saturday, 8 November 2025 in Morocco.
