Harambee Starlets Turn Focus to 2028 Olympics Qualifiers After WAFCON Exit

By Mbungu Harrison

Email, thecoastnewspaper@gmail.com

Harambee Starlets left Morocco for Nairobi on Thursday morning, August 6, 2026 following an early exit from the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations.

The team, which finished bottom of Group A, will now shift attention to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic games qualifiers where Kenya will face Seychelles in a two-legged tie between October 5 and 13, this year. Kenya received a bye in the first round.

Starlets lost all three group matches in Rabat, Morocco against the host 0-4 followed by 0-1 against Senegal and lastly, 0-2 against Algeria.

Speaking at Rabat-Sale Airport before departure, Federation of Kenya Football (FKF), special projects and national teams head Athanas Obala said the tournament provided key lessons despite the poor results.

“For sure it has been a very great tournament, only that Kenya had bad results. We have done benchmarking to try to understand what Morocco have invested for them to be a football powerhouse in Africa,” Obala said.

“To us it’s a learning experience and we must invest in talent development, something which has raised Morocco to this level. The training has been fine, from taking part in the FIFA Series to the Miramas Camp in France and now WAFCON,” she said.

Captain Mwanalima Adam Jereko defended the head coach Beldine Odemba and placed responsibility on the players.

“As a captain, I noted that we played against very tough teams. Starlets depend more on me, but our opponents had like ten more players of my quality, meaning we must work hard,” Jereko said.

She added,”I don’t think coach Odemba is to be blamed. To me, I feel she did her job, but the players failed her. At some point on the pitch, I was cautioning my players against silly mistakes they were committing, including losing clear chances.”

The Kenyan contingent is expected to land at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport on Saturday, August 8 at 1:00 am.

“WAFCON is behind us, and now it’s time to learn our lessons and come back strong in the Olympic qualifiers and other competitive matches,” she added.

FKF said preparations for the Olympic qualifiers will begin immediately to address gaps exposed in Rabat.