Kenya's national women’s football team, the Harambee Starlets, came agonizingly close to qualifying for the 2024 Women's Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON), but ultimately fell short. Despite putting up a strong fight, they lost 2-1 on aggregate to Botswana.
The Starlets had previously made history in 2016 by qualifying for the WAFCON for the first time. Their 2024 campaign was shaping up to be a promising bid for a second appearance, but Botswana proved to be a formidable challenge.
In the final round of qualification, a 1-1 draw at home followed by a heartbreaking 1-0 defeat away meant the dream was dashed. What stung the most was the fact that the team failed to capitalize on several key opportunities.
In the first leg, they earned a late penalty, only for it to be saved. In the return leg, with the score at 0-0, they were awarded another penalty—a potential game-changing chance for an away goal—but missed again.
The Starlets had already achieved a remarkable feat by defeating African giants Cameroon in the first qualification round, raising expectations that they could finish the job against Botswana. Sadly, those hopes went unfulfilled.
But as painful as the 2024 campaign was, the lessons learned are now fueling the Starlets' drive for the 2026 WAFCON. The team is determined to start fresh and use the experiences of their near-miss to fuel their qualification efforts for 2026.
Their journey begins with a challenging first-round match against Tunisia.
In an exclusive interview with Telecomasia.net, head coach Beldine Odemba shared her reflections on the heartache of 2024 and outlined her ambitions for guiding the team to WAFCON glory in 2026.
- The memories of 2024 are still fresh and painful. What really happened to make the team miss out on qualification?
- Those memories are very painful, because we had a very good chance. The biggest mistake we as a team did was not give 100 percent to the game against Botswana. I think we didn’t lose the match tactically. We lost it because we kind of underrated Botswana.
After beating Cameroon, in our minds we had already won against Botswana even before playing them. If you look at the performance in both games, Botswana came prepared to fight for every ball but for us, we thought it was an easy game.
- Are there lessons learnt from that and will that failure inspire the girls for 2026?
- Definitely yes. Even now you will hear it in the corridors the girls talking about it. We learnt our lessons the hard way. Football is won on the pitch and not on paper. We have learnt and we are using that as an inspiration to start this journey. For us now, every game is like a final and we have to respect any opponent that comes our way and give 100 percent always.
- The journey towards 2026 starts this month, against Tunisia. How do you weigh up this game and prepare the girls?
- No opponent is an easy opponent and definitely we have to prepare well tactically, physically and mentally. We start the first round at home and finish away, and we have to exert our dominance right from the game at home. It will be very important for us to get a win, and a clean sheet at home to make matters easier when we play in North Africa, which is never easy. If we don’t get it done here at home, we will have a difficult outing away. We need to take every chance that we get.
- You had two training camps last year, in Morocco and Turkey. How have these helped to shape your team?
- The two camps were really helpful because we got a chance to play against teams ranked higher than us and it gave us a good picture of where we are as a team. It was also good for exposure for some of the girls who have never played at an international level. We used it to test different kinds of players and also see them in real match situations. The impact was great and the progress made from the two games was really commendable and it shows that if we get more of those kind of friendly matches, we will move somewhere.
The Morocco camp we had late last year was even more important because we now shaped what will be our core team and built a bit of synergy and as a coach now, the work becomes easier to prepare for Tunisia.
- Talk us through the team you have called up for this camp. There is a blend of new and experienced players. How did you balance it out?
- I think first of all, me being a coach in the Women’s Premier League has helped me get exposed to more players because every weekend I am facing a different team and I also go out there to scout for players from the lower leagues. Our leagues have so much talent and that is why I was able to get many good players. I have been able to see and find what we want and need as a team.
- Among the debutants, are there some who stand out for you?
- I would pick out Faith Mboya, who has just been signed by Kibera Soccer Ladies. She played in the second tier last season and already had 16 goals by mid-season and she scored a brace in her first match in the Premier League. This is a player that we really need as a national team. She is a complete striker and in such a campaign we are heading to, we need goals. She is lethal and has an eye for goal with a good shooting range and I am sure she will be a vital part of this team moving forward.
- Finally, how is the confidence of the team heading into the first match of the 2026 qualifiers and is there belief of qualification?
The confidence of the team is really good. Everyone wants to make amends for last year and there is a lot of hunger in the team. We know that we stand a chance and we cannot afford to let it slip again. Everyone is focused and ready to give 100 percent in every game we play.
As a team, we are ready to sacrifice all on the pitch and get qualification. We know how much it means for the country and more so how much it will mean for the girls and the coaches. It is absolutely imperative that we go out there and show what we can do as a team and as a country. I just want to ask everyone to show up for our home games and give us that 12th man push.
