The Harambee Starlets have concluded their campaign at the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) and are now turning their attention to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic qualifiers, following their elimination from the continental tournament in Morocco.
The Kenyan national women’s team departed Rabat on Thursday after completing their Group A fixtures and was expected to arrive at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi at 1:00 a.m. on Saturday, August 8, bringing an end to a campaign that yielded valuable experience but no points.
With the WAFCON tournament now behind them, head coach Beldine Odemba and her technical bench are expected to begin preparations for Kenya’s next major assignment—a two-legged Olympic qualifying tie against Seychelles scheduled between October 5 and October 13, 2026.
Kenya received a bye in the opening round of the qualifiers, meaning the Starlets will begin their quest for a place at the 2028 Olympic Games directly in the second qualifying phase.
The team’s return follows a difficult outing in Morocco, where Kenya finished at the bottom of Group A after losing all three of its matches.
The Starlets opened the tournament with a 4-0 defeat to hosts Morocco, before suffering consecutive 1-0 losses to Senegal and Algeria. Despite showing improvement in the latter fixtures, Kenya was unable to register either a point or a goal during the group stage.
Speaking at Rabat-Salé Airport before the team’s departure, Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Head of Projects and National Teams Athanas Obala described the tournament as an important learning opportunity despite the disappointing 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.
He noted that FKF officials had used the tournament to study Morocco’s football structures, facilities and investment in women’s football, saying the lessons learned could help shape Kenya’s long-term development plans.
Morocco has invested heavily in football infrastructure over the past decade, including the expansion of high-performance training centres, improved youth development programmes and increased support for women’s football. Those efforts have contributed to the country’s emergence as one of Africa’s leading football nations and its successful hosting of major continental competitions.
For Kenya, participation in the expanded WAFCON finals marked an important milestone after successfully navigating the qualification campaign. Although the team fell short of progressing beyond the group stage, the tournament provided players with exposure against some of Africa’s strongest women’s national teams.
Head coach Beldine Odemba is expected to retain the core of the squad as preparations begin for the Olympic qualifiers, where the Starlets will aim to build on the experience gained in Morocco.
The upcoming fixtures against Seychelles present Kenya with an opportunity to return to winning ways and continue its pursuit of a first-ever qualification for the Olympic women’s football tournament.
The Football Kenya Federation is also expected to review the team’s WAFCON campaign as part of broader efforts to strengthen women’s football and improve the national team’s competitiveness in future continental and global competitions.
While the results in Morocco fell short of expectations, the federation believes the tournament has provided valuable insights into the standards required to compete consistently at Africa’s highest level.
With attention now shifting to October’s Olympic qualifiers, the Starlets will be looking to apply those lessons as they begin another important chapter in their international campaign.