Football

FIFAU17WCQ: Kenya's Junior Starlets on the brink of history after thrashing Burundi

Marion Serenge celebrates her goal, the second goal of the match

By Michael Kirwa | Sunday, June 9, 2024

The Junior Starlets will host Burundi in the return on June 16th at the Ulinzi Sports Complex.

The Junior Starlets are about to make history by becoming the first Kenyan football team of any age or gender to compete in a FIFA World Cup.

After thrashing Burundi U17 3-0 in the first leg of their final round qualifying match in Addis Ababa, the barrios, streets, and shores of the Dominican Republic, the site of this year's FIFA Women's U17 FIFA World Cup, beckon the history-making young Kenyan girls.

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The jaunt home from the Ethiopian capital for Mildred Cheche and her coterie of awe-inspiring girls will be one of irrepressible joy and immersible hope.

It is joy and hope that did not start with the first half goals from Lorna Faith and Marion Serenge that put the Junior Starlets in dreamland with a 2-0 halftime lead and one foot in the Dominican Republic, a country bordering Haiti, where Kenya is also expected to have both feet in for a security operation.

Susan Akoth's third goal gives Kenya U17 a commanding lead heading into the second leg, where Operation Secure-A-Ticket to the Dominican Republic will be in full force.

The Junior Starlets, with a bit of luck on their backs, have been almost flawless in this qualifying campaign.

There was no need for them to compete in the first round of qualifying. They were so good for that stage that their adventure had to start in the Second Round against DR Congo in March 2024.

However, due to DR Congo U17's withdrawal from the qualifiers, Kenya U17 had to postpone showcasing their best performance. This allowed them to advance directly to the Third Round of the qualifiers, where their influence was not immediately apparent as they drew 0-0 with Ethiopia U17 in the first leg of their match.

When their northern neighbors made the journey south for the second leg of that tie, the Junior Starlets finally showed up, and they did so in style with a 3-0 victory over Ethiopia U17 at Ulinzi Sports Complex.

That win sent ripples across the whole country as the monumental tie against Burundi U17, who had sent shockwaves with a 24-0 aggregate victory over Djibouti U17 in the Third Round, awaited.

Today in Addis Ababa, those ripples from Junior Starlets consumed the shockwaves that Burundi U17 had sent, and now the whole country is shaking with anticipation, witnessing without doubt the most magical of its entire football history.