NAIROBI, Kenya, September 16, 2026 – With the clock ticking fast to the Under 17 women’s World Cup in Morocco, Junior Starlets head coach Mildred Cheche is scrambling to assemble her squad for the global showpiece.
Cheche reveals that four of her players, three from Butere Girls High School, are yet to link up with their teammates at the residential camp in Kasarani.
“Most of our players have reported in camp. We are missing four, three from Butere Girls…they are yet to release the girls. We’ve sent communication to them, so hopefully they do that soon because they are missing out on a lot,” she said.
The gaffer has also divulged that Mwanakombo Bakari, a key cog in their qualification for the tournament, is currently in the United States, and may not join the squad in good time.
“She got a scholarship in the US, so she travelled to the US to join the school. Hopefully, she gets to join us in future or during the World Cup period. We have a very big task at the World Cup, the countries we are playing, they are not easy,” Cheche said.
Kenya will be playing at the World Cup for the second time in two years after a historic debut at the Dominican Republic – where they became the first football side from the country to qualify for a major international competition.
The teenagers have been pooled in a tough Group E that also includes China, Samoa and the United States.
The gargantuan task ahead notwithstanding, Cheche is optimistic they posses the quality within their ranks to rise above the challenge.
“They are calling it a group of death because we have China, USA and Samoa. But the quality we have, I think it’s very much possible to go beyond the group stages. So we are going to do our best and give it our all at the matches,” the tactician said.
Although it is a vastly changed squad from their predecessors, Cheche’s charges will draw inspiration from 2024 when they came away with one win out of three matches.
A 2-0 loss to England in the first game was followed by a 3-0 thumping by North Korea, culminating in a historic 2-1 victory over Mexico in their ultimate Group C encounter.
The tactician is conscious of the fact that the factors that worked in their favour last time round may not be the same in Morocco.
“You cannot have the same approach that you had during the qualifiers. We’ve made a few changes in how we are going to approach the matches. We’ve also added a few players to give us an edge, so hopefully that works out for us. We have a few who I think will blend well for the team. Most of them have played together in the school set up or in the school games so the chemistry is there,” she said.
Consequently, preparations in their ongoing residential camp have centered on tactics, physicality, mentality and techniques.
“We have to prepare our players technically, physically, mentally. They have to be ready tactically to face the giants in football. It’s very different because now we are going to play with a physical side and also tactically intelligent,” Cheche observed.
Starlets kick off their campaign against China on October 19 at the Mohamed VI Football Academy pitch before locking horns with the Americans at the same venue, three days later.
Their ultimate fixture is against the Pacific Ocean islanders on October 25, at which point they will be hoping to have secured their ticket to the knockout stages.
