Harambee, Junior Starlets in action as Odemba & Cheche polish for qualifiers

Junior Starlets, who are chasing history with the dream of making it to the U-17 FIFA Women’s World Cup for the second consecutive time, will take on Morocco under-17 who have already sealed their place for the global event as hosts.

The Mildred Cheche coached Junior Starlets are warming up for their final  World Cup qualifiers double header against Cameroon, with the first leg set for Sunday, April 20 at Nyayo Stadium before the return leg on April 25 in Yaoundé.

In Abidjan, the Beldine Odemba-coached side Harambee Starlets will be taking on their hosts Ivory Coast as a warm-up to their 2026 Women Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) final round qualifier against Gambia.

The first leg of the 2026 Awcon qualifier will be played on October 20 at Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi as the second leg will be played on October 28 in Banjul.

-          ‘Power play’ -

Speaking ahead of the Morocco friendly, Cheche underlined the importance of the friendly against the North African giants.

“The camp is going well, and the players are psyched up. We have two friendly matches to test where we are as a team. The friendly will give us much fitness to be able to assess ourselves as a team and also to give the players confidence to play against Cameroon.

“Morocco keeps the ball mostly, is a very technical team to play against, and is also good tactically. Cameroon is a very physical team and they like power play. They also have good strikers, which means we have to prepare our defense well,” averred Cheche.

“We also need to prepare our forwards to score early goals, which will give us confidence to win the match,” she added.

 Junior Starlets captain Halima Imbachi echoed Cheche’s sentiments noting that the friendly matches were timely and will help them.

“The morale is high in the camp, and as players, we are eager to play against Cameroon home and Away.

“Our aim of beating them and qualifying for the World Cup for the second time in a row is something which I believe we can achieve if we maintain the focus and prepare well.”

The team earned their spot in the third round after a spirited performance against Uganda in the second round.

-          Minimal changes -

For the senior side Starlets, Odemba has recalled Ann Norah, Vivian Nasaka, Lucy Kwekwe and Faith Mboya.

Nasaka, who was initially called up for the Tunisia clash, missed out due to an injury sustained at her Turkish club, Hakkarigucuspor. Meanwhile, Mboya, who didn’t make the final squad in Tunisia, is in line for her first cap.

However, Harambee Starlets will be without Captain, Dorcas Shikobe, who suffered an injury while playing for her Greek club, Sirines of Grevena.

“The purpose of these friendlies is to evaluate our progress, identify areas for improvement, and build on our strengths. That’s why I’ve made minimal changes to the squad from the Tunisia camp to get a clear picture of where we stand as a team,’’Odemba observed.

“It’s unfortunate that we’ll be missing our captain, Dorcas Shikobe, due to an injury she picked up in Greece. I wish her a speedy recovery and look forward to having her back in our future matches,” she added.