17 Women’s World Cup Qualifiers: Zambia, Kenya and Nigeria take first-leg advantage
Published:
Saturday, 04 July 2026
The race for places at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Morocco 2026 gathered momentum this weekend as the first legs of the third and final round of the African qualifiers were played
Kenya produced the standout result with an impressive away victory over South Africa, while Zambia and Nigeria both secured narrow home wins to take slender advantages into the decisive return legs
Zambia 2-1 Ethiopia: Copper Princesses edge entertaining contest
Scorers: Precious Mwewa (14′), Phidah Muzuwa (54′) – Mihret Ayele (40′)
Zambia will take a one-goal advantage into the second leg after defeating Ethiopia 2-1 at home
The Copper Princesses made a bright start and took the lead through Precious Mwewa after 14 minutes, but Ethiopia responded before the break as Mihret Ayele levelled the scores in the 40th minute
Phidah Muzuwa restored Zambia’s advantage nine minutes into the second half with what proved to be the winning goal, leaving the tie finely balanced ahead of the return fixture in Addis Ababa
South Africa 0-2 Kenya: Harambee Starlets Take Command
Scorers: Faith Boke (13′), Brenda Achieng (60′)
Kenya produced the result of the round with a disciplined 2-0 away victory over South Africa in Pretoria
Faith Boke put the visitors ahead after just 13 minutes before goalkeeper Mishel Okoyo Ngono made a crucial contribution seven minutes later, saving a South African penalty to preserve Kenya’s lead
Brenda Achieng doubled the advantage on the hour mark as Kenya completed an outstanding away performance and moved into a strong position ahead of the second leg
Nigeria 3-2 Benin: Flamingos hold narrow advantage
Scorers: Queen Joseph (25′), Oluwakemi Adegbuyi (62′), Kindness Ifeanyi (75′) – Romaine Gandonou (14′), Nazifatou Dangui (73′)
Nigeria overcame determined neighbours Benin 3-2 in a hard-fought encounter
The visitors made the perfect start when Romaine Gandonou opened the scoring after 14 minutes, but Queen Joseph restored parity before half-time
Oluwakemi Adegbuyi gave the Flamingos the lead in the 62nd minute, only for Nazifatou Dangui to equalise once again for Benin with 17 minutes remaining
Nigeria responded immediately as Kindness Ifeanyi struck the decisive goal two minutes later to hand the hosts a narrow advantage ahead of the return leg in Cotonou
With three places at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Morocco 2026 still to be decided, all three ties remain open as the teams prepare for the decisive second-leg fixtures next weekend
