Harambee Starlets head coach Beldine Odemba has attributed Kenya’s 1-0 defeat to Senegal to poor finishing in their Group A match at the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) on Thursday at the Olympic Stadium in Rabat.
FC Metz’s striker Seynabou Mbengue capitalized on Kenya’s defensive lapse to net the lone goal for the West African nation in the 34th minute.
The disappointing outcome leaves Kenya rooted at the bottom of Group A after back-to-back losses, significantly denting their hopes of reaching the knockout stage. Odemba admitted her side created enough opportunities but failed to make them count.
Kenya had opened it’s on a losing note, going down 4-0 against hosts Morocco in Rabat.
“We would have done better if we had defended well and converted the chances we created. The goal they scored came from our mistake. Against Morocco, we also created chances but couldn’t score, and today we had even better opportunities,” she said.
However, ‘Modern Coach’ refused to give up on Kenya’s chances of proceeding to the second round of the Africa women’s premier football competition.
“We are still in the competition, so we have to keep believing. We hope to get our first win against Algeria. From these two matches, we have identified areas we need to improve, especially in defence and converting our chances. I am disappointed we couldn’t score today, but mentally the players responded well. There was a big improvement from the first match. It is still a work in progress,”she added.
Defender Vivian Nasaka shared her coach’s disappointment over the missed opportunities but remained optimistic ahead of Kenya’s final group match against Algeria.
“We still have another chance against Algeria, and we will fight again. Our finishing let us down today. We created several clear one-on-one chances but failed to convert them. Tactically, we had the upper hand and created more chances than Senegal, but they took theirs while we didn’t,” she said.
Senegal midfielder Sadigatou Diallo praised Kenya’s performance after helping her side secure a crucial victory.
“Kenya played very well. We are happy to have scored today after failing to find the net in our last match. It was a difficult game at times, but the most important thing was getting the win.
Late in the night in Rabat, Morocco gave Kenya a sigh of relief following their hard fought 1-0 victory against Algeria at the El Hassan Abdallah Moulay Stadium.
The result by the Atlas Lionesses means that Kenya is still in the tournament but will need to beat Algeria by at least 6 goals to progress and pray that Morocco beat Senegal in the last Group A match on Monday night.
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