Eight teams from the CECAFA Zone have been drawn to play in the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup 2026 African qualifiers.
The Kenya Junior Starlets who played in the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup 2024 in the Dominican Republic will face Namibia in the first round.
A total of 31 teams will be involved in the qualifiers which kick-off in April, 2026. The qualifiers will be played in three knockout rounds, and the best four teams will qualify for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Finals in Morocco.
The draw was conducted on Saturday in Rabat, Morocco where TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) is currently taking place. Jacqueline Shipanga, the technical Director of the Namibia Football Federation, CAF Elite Instructor was the draw assistant.
In-case the Kenya Junior Starlets qualifies for the second round they will meet the winner between Zimbabwe and Uganda. Interestingly CECAFA tams Kenya and Tanzania could meet in the final third round hurdle if they managed to sail through their first and second round matches.
Rwanda have been placed against Zambia, while Djibouti take on DR Congo in other first round matches. It will be an all CECAFA affair when South Sudan take on Ethiopia.
While the first round maches take center stage April 10-19th, the second round matches of the qualifiers will take place between May 22-31st, and the final third round takes place between July 3-12th, 2026
First round
Niger vs Guinea
Burkina Faso vs Benin
Sierra Leone vs Core d’Ivoire
Tunisia vs Senegal
Algeria vs Cameroon
Togo vs Ghana
Libya vs Liberia
Rwanda vs Zambia
DR Congo vs Djibouti
South Sudan vs Ethiopia
Malawi vs Burundi
Botswana vs Tanzania
Central African Republic vs South Africa
Zimbabwe vs Uganda
Namibia vs Kenya