2025 U17 FIFA world cup: cameroon to battle Kenya in final qualifying round

Cameroon will face Kenya in the third and last round of the qualifiers to the 2025 Under-17 FIFA Women’s World Cup tournament.

The U17 Lionesses qualified for the final round after beating Ethiopia 6-2 on aggregate at the end of the two-legged round two of the three-phased qualification tournament. The team secured the comfortable victory after picking a 1-0 win over host Ethiopia in Addis Ababa last Saturday March 15, 2025. Cameroon claimed the win following a goal from rising Cameroonian football sensation, Ange Tazanou of Bansoa Sports Academy.

 The return leg triumph followed a 5-2 victory that Cameroon had secured over the Ethiopians in Yaounde a week earlier during the away leg.  The Harambee Starlets of Kenya sailed through to the third round after registering a 5-0 aggregate victory over fellow East African nation, Uganda.

 The Starlets concluded the round two journey last Sunday March 16 with a 3-0 humiliation of the Ugandan under-17 team at home in Nairobi. The return leg win followed a 2-0 victory that was earlier registered in Kampala by the Kenyans during the first leg of the all-East African clash.

Harambee Starlets a big threat for Cameroon

The Kenya meeting is tipped by expert to be difficult one for the U17 Lionesses of Cameroon due to the quality of football that the Kenyans have been playing in the last couple of years as well as the results that the nation has been registering in Africa and globally during that period. Contrary to the Egyptian and Ethiopian teams which Cameroon smoothly walked on in the first and second rounds of the ongoing qualifiers, Kenya has a big history in the Under-18 FIFA Women’s World Cup competition similar to what Cameroon enjoys.

The Kenyans made their debut appearance in the youth women’s world cup competition last year when they participated in the 2024 edition of the competition.  The team finished third in its pool in the tournament after overpowering Mexico and losing to England and North Korea in its two other matches.

Cameroon has scored 12 goals and conceded two goals in four matches since the start of the ongoing qualification campaign.  Kenya has played two matches in the competition the team was excluded from the first round as a result of their appearance in last year’s World Cup tournament.

Revenge time for Team Cameroon

Cameroonian football fans are confident that the U17 will go through the Kenyans and qualify for the 2025 tournament despite the threatening records that the East Africans enjoy getting into the Cameroon cracker. Head coach Joseph Brian Ndoko and his girls are expected to tap inspiration from the recent humiliating defeat that the senior women’s national football team of Cameroon suffered on the hands of their Kenyan peers.

Two years ago, Kenya sent Cameroon out of the qualifiers to the 2024 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations.  The East Africans humbled Cameroon on post-match penalties at home in Nairobi after both sides settled on a 1-1 aggregate draw at the close of regular playing time across the two legs of matches played in Douala and in Nairobi.

 The first-round loss entailed that Cameroon was missing out on the final phase of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations for the first time since the competition was launched more than 30 years ago. Cameroon has appeared in the U17 FIFA Women’s World Cup twice. The nation is aiming for its third participation in the finals of the competition.

The 2025 FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup will take place in Morocco later this year featuring a total of 24 participating nations.