WAFCON 2026: Millions Harambee Starlets Will Miss from President Ruto After Morocco Defeat

Harambee Starlets’ big loss to Morocco in their 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations saw them miss out on a big financial reward from President William Ruto.

Kenya’s return to WAFCON after a 10-year wait got off to the worst possible start as their inexperience told through the many mistakes that they made before losing 4-0.

After initially threatening to shock the home side, the floodgates opened with Morocco taking full advantage of their mistakes.

The Atlas Lionesses proved too strong for Kenya with Ibtissam Jraidi scoring a brace, coming after Sakina Ouzraoui had opened the scoring 19 minutes before Maryame Atiq made it 2-0 in the 28th minute.

Starlets coach Beldine Odemba made substitutions at the break that limited the damage but it took Morocco two minutes after restart to score the fourth.

The Kenyan players had come into the match after being informed of what President Ruto had pledged to the team if they beat Morocco.

“President Ruto promised that if you beat Morocco, it is Ksh10 million. The pledge from His Excellence is that for every win you get, it is Ksh10 million,” Football Kenya Federation president Hussein Mohammed told the players in the dressing room just before they took to the pitch.

However, Morocco proved too strong, seeing Starlets miss out on the big reward, but it is not all lost as they have matches against Senegal and Algeria in Group A to make up for the big loss.

Starlets are now in a must-win position ahead of Senegal’s match on Thursday and need no motivation given it is not just three points at stake but also a huge financial reward from the Head of State.