South Africa plot Kenya comeback in U17 World Cup qualifier
Reading Time: 2min | Sun. 12.07.26. | 08:09
To qualify for the World Cup, Bantwana must beat Kenya by a margin of at least three goals,
South Africa U17 Women's head coach Ntombifuthi Khumalo has opened up on what her team must do to beat Kenya and qualify for the 2026 FIFA U17 Women's World Cup.
Kenya will host the second leg of the two-legged third and final U17 Women's World Cup qualifier, with South Africa facing an uphill task after suffering a 2-0 defeat at home in the first leg played on Saturday, July 4, in Pretoria.
To qualify for the World Cup, Bantwana must beat Kenya by a margin of at least three goals, a challenge Khumalo acknowledges will be very difficult.
Speaking to the press on the sidelines of Bantwana's final training session at the Nyayo National Stadium, the experienced tactician outlined what her team must do to secure qualification.
"We need to be at our best in the final third. We have worked on our conversion of chances because we did not score even a single goal despite creating numerous chances in the first leg," said Khumalo.
Khumalo, who guided South Africa to the 2024 CAF African Schools Football Championship title, also called on her defence to remain alert.
"Additionally, we conceded easy goals and must therefore play with discipline and compactness to shut down the Kenyan attackers," she added.
Despite the difficult task ahead, Khumalo expressed confidence in her team's ability to overturn the deficit.
"We really need to be concentrated throughout the match because the first leg was not good enough from us and we therefore have to win by a bigger margin in order to make it to the World Cup.
Most of my girls are from the U15 setup and therefore have international experience. This is a different stage, but I have faith in them to do well," she noted.
