NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 12 – New face Mwanakombo Bakari targets qualification for the 2026 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Morocco, after an impressive debut performance during the first leg qualifier against Uganda in Kampala over the weekend.
Bakari, inspired by Kenyan international Mwanahalima Adam, believes she can bring an x-factor into the team and aid them into the World Cup for a second consecutive time.
“My ambition is to help the team qualify to the World Cup. They were there last year and the girls made history with that qualification. Now, for us who are coming in, we must show that we are equal to the task and we have to maintain the bar that has been set. My determination is to play a role to help the team qualify and go beyond the group stages which they reached last year,” Bakari said, in an interview with Telecomasia.net.
Bakari, who is still a High School student at Mwaroni Secondary School in Ukunda, in Kenya’s Kwale County, has earned her first ever national team call up, though for the Under-17s.
She says she was inspired by Adam to take her football seriously, and is now determined to use her junior team call up as a step towards following in the footsteps of her idol.
“My biggest inspiration has been Mwanahalima Adam. We both come from the Coast region and the same locality and I always looked at her and admired how much football had changed her life. She always inspired me that if I keep working hard, I would get to such levels as well. She has been there, pushing me and encouraging me in every step of the way and she has played a crucial role in where I am today,” Bakari said in the interview with Telecomasia.
