Hope for Harambee Starlets? Nigeria and South Africa’s Shock WAFCON Defeats Give Kenya Faith Ahead of Tough Battles

Harambee Starlets face a daunting task to qualify for the quarter-finals of the 2026 Women's Africa Cup of Nations but what has been witnessed at the tournament so far should be cause for optimism.

‎Kenya take on Senegal on Thursday and another defeat will spell the end of their campaign before they face Algeria in their final group stage match.

‎This is because they started their tournament with a 4-0 loss to hosts Morocco on Sunday with the Atlas Lionesses taking full advantage of their mistakes in possession, defence and on set-pieces.

‎Starlets had started well and took the game to Morocco in the opening 10 minutes, missing a great chance before the floodgates opened.

‎Now, they have to beat both Senegal and Algeria to be certain of a place in the last eight, which to many, looks nearly impossible on paper, given they are ranked 128 while the West Africans are 79th and the Algerians are at position 74.

However, Kenya can draw inspiration from neighbours Tanzania and Malawi who were given no chance of winning their WAFCON 2026 openers against South Africa and Nigeria respectively but came out with three points.

‎Tanzania surprised South Africa, the 2022 champions and one of the title favourites, beating them 2-1 after a clever tactical plan that nullified Banyana Banyana's threats before stunning them on the counter on Monday.

On Tuesday, defending champions Nigeria, the tournament's best team, ranked 36th globally, took on lowly Malawi, at position 153, and making their WAFCON debut at the 2026 edition.

‎For many, it was a foregone conclusion that the record 10-time winners, who had never lost to a debut team, would win by a big margin.

However, Malawi upset the form book, containing a star-studded Nigeria in the first half before scoring three second half goals through sisters Temwa and Tabita Chawinga. A late rally from the Super Falcons was still not enough to save Nigeria from the historic loss.

For Starlets, and other lowly-ranked teams in the tournament, this is enough motivation to push for victory against the top teams and it could be the spring that Beldine Odemba’s charges need to turn their tournament around.