Final preps as Rising Starlets look to complete job against Angola

As the saying goes, third time’s a charm and the national U20 women’s football team Rising Starlets, hope that this holds true as they look to qualify for the 2024 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup set to be hosted by Colombia from 31 August to 22 September 2024.

The Beldine Odemba-coached side got their campaign off to a good start in the second round of the CAF qualifiers, routing Angola 6-1 at the Nyayo national stadium on Sunday 8 October in the first leg.

Starlets arrived in Angola on Thursday, 12 October for their second leg match scheduled to be played on Saturday, 14 October at 5:30pm EAT. Should Rising Starlets advance to the third round they will face the winner of the second-round clash between Cameroon and Botswana.

While Kenya has a 6-1 advantage over Angola, Cameroon won their first leg clash 2-0. Odemba is looking to complete the job against Angola on Saturday and begin preparations for the third-round clash where they are likely to play Cameroon.

This would be a repeat of the senior team meeting in the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) meeting that Harambee Starlets defeated the highly-ranked Indomitable Lionesses on post-match penalties to advance under the tutelage of Odemba. 

“We saw some brilliance from the Angola team in the first leg so we will not be complacent despite the advantage we hold. We have to give a better show than we did at home and stop them on their tracks to seal a place in the third round,” said Odemba who is looking to qualify the junior Starlets to their first World Cup.

This is the third time that Kenya is taking part in the qualifiers for the biennial international women's youth football championship contested by the under-20 national teams of the member associations of FIFA.

The four countries that emerge from the third round were set to face each face each other in a round-robin format to determine two representatives for Africa at the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup. However, on 4 October 2023, FIFA decided the expansion of the tournament to 24 teams and Africa is likely to have four representatives.

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