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Junior Starlets captain Imbachi ready to excel in qualifiers
Junior Starlets captain Halima Imbachi (centre) during a team training session at MPesa Foundation ground in Thika, Kiambu County on March 5, 2025 ahead of their World Cup qualifier against Uganda on Saturday.
What you need to know:
- Surviving from last year's World Cup squad are goalkeepers Scovia Awuor and Velma Abwire, strikers Imbachi, Mitshel Waithera, Joy Angela Valencia, and Joan Ogola, defenders Lorine Ilavonga, Jenevive Mithel, and Ochaka, and midfielder Lindy Weey.
Junior Starlets captain Halima Imbachi is optimistic about Kenya's chances of returning to the Fifa Under-17 Women's World Cup.
Ahead of tomorrow's qualifier, second round first leg match against Uganda at Nakivubo Hamza Stadium in Kampala, Uganda from 4pm, Imbachi talked about the team's determination to qualify for this year's finals that will be held in Morocco in October.
Imbachi, who succeeded Elizabeth Ochaka as captain, played in the 2024 World Cup in the Dominican Republic, where Kenya finished third in Group "C" with three points, after defeating Mexico 2-1.
The Butere Girls High School student Imbachi emphasised the team's determination to surpass their previous performance.
"We were eliminated early in the group stages last time, but this year, we have what it takes to advance," she said. Imbachi will first have to get past Uganda in their two-leg encounter and then negotiate past either Cameroon or Ethiopia in the third round to make the world event.
Kenya U-17 coach Mildred Cheche named a final 23-strong squad from an initial pool of 51 before the team departed for Uganda yesterday morning aboard a Kenya Airways flight.
Surviving from last year's World Cup squad are goalkeepers Scovia Awuor and Velma Abwire, strikers Imbachi, Mitshel Waithera, Joy Angela Valencia, and Joan Ogola, defenders Lorine Ilavonga, Jenevive Mithel, and Ochaka, and midfielder Lindy Weey.