Haunted by history: Cameroon Women's U17 long struggle against East African teams

Kenya’s Junior Starlets will be tasked with maintaining a fascinating legacy of East African women's youth football when they meet Cameroon Women U17 in the final qualifying round for the 2025 FIFA U17 Women World Cup which will be held in Morocco from October 17 to November 8.

The two teams are set to clash next month with Cameroon Women U17 approaching the match seeking to change their fate and the Junior Starlets intend to remind them of it – that they have never overcome an East Africa team in a two-leg FIFA U17 Women's World Cup qualifying encounter.

First, it was Tanzania in May-June 2022 that showed Kenya and Uganda the way in silencing Cameroon, a nation reputed in Africa as a football powerhouse.

On that occasion, Tanzania Women U17, popularly known as the Serengeti Girls, won 4-1 away to the Central West Africans before defeating them 1-0 at home to become the first Tanzanian and East African football team of any age group or gender to qualify for a FIFA World Cup.

Humiliating Cameroon Women U17 5-1 on aggregate was a huge statement by the Serengeti Girls as their opponents had featured in the two previous editions of FIFA U17 Women's World Cup, Jordan 2016 and Uruguay 2018.

In that year, the Serengeti Girls featured at the 2022 FIFA U17 World Cup which was held in India, where they wrote history yet again by becoming the first team from the region to win a match and compete in the knockout stages at a FIFA World Cup.

Serengeti Girls bounced back from a 4-0 loss against Japan in their first match with a 2-1 win against France and a 1-1 draw with Canada, collecting four points that allowed them to finish second in Group D.

However, their luck ran out in the quarterfinals where they lost 3-0 to Colombia.

The Serengeti Girls failed in their quest to qualify for the 2024 FIFA U17 Women's World Cup held in the Dominican Republic and as the Junior Starlets went on be toast of East African football by qualifying for the tournament, Uganda Women U17 picked from where Tanzania Women U17 left by halting Cameroon Women U17's progress in the qualifiers.

Cameroon and Uganda met in the First Qualifying Round of the 2024 FIFA U17 Women's World Cup and after the two teams drew 1-1 in Kampala, Uganda turned on the style in Yaoundé and returned home with 3-1 win, hence progressing to the second qualifying round with a 4-2 aggregate victory.

Unfortunately for Uganda, they fell short in the Second Qualifying Round as they lost 2-1 on aggregate to Zambia. Despite that stumble, Uganda Women U17 had cemented their legacy in East African women's youth football by overcoming Cameroon.

Interestingly, Cameroon and Uganda were scheduled to meet in the final qualifying round for the 2020 FIFA U17 Women's World Cup but the match, and the whole tournament, was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

If anything, on that occasion, Uganda Women U17 had an opportunity to precede Kenya and Tanzania in qualifying for a FIFA World Cup.

Fast forward to 2025 and the baton has been passed to the Junior Starlets to maintain East Africa's chokehold on Cameroon in African women's youth football.

The Junior Starlets have been in imperious form in World Cup qualifying matches over the last two years. The team is unbeaten in six matches without conceding a goal to boast five wins in that span.

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After eliminating Uganda Women U17 with a 5-0 aggregate victory, the Junior Starlets remain the only team in contention for World Cup qualification as the Serengeti Girls also suffered elimination at the hands of Zambia who defeated them 4-0 on aggregate.

As such, in terms of preserving the pride of East Africa in youth football in Africa, the stakes cannot get much higher for the Junior Starlets.

While Cameroon Women U17 will come hoping for a miracle, they will be haunted by a history that backs the Junior Starlets to deliver another memorable chapter in the story of women's youth football in East Africa.

Going into the match, the Junior Starlets have shown respect to their opponent but commending their strengths.

However, it does not equate to yield ground. When April comes, the Junior Starlets will have a legacy to defend and they will have the backing of history and over 100 million East Africans.