Junior Starlets make history as first Kenyan side to win a FIFA World Cup match

Kenya's Junior Starlets celebrate scoring a goal against Mexico in a FIFA U17 Women's World Cup Group C match at the Felix Sanchez Olympic Stadium in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic [Harambee Starlets, Twitter].

Junior Starlets made history on Thursday, October 24, as the first Kenyan side to win the FIFA World Cup match.

Kenya overcame Mexico 2-1 to win their last 2024 FIFA U17 Women's World Cup Group C match in a pulsating battle at the 27000-capacity Felix Sanchez Olympic Stadium in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

Valerie Nekesa drilled in Joan Ogola's left cross to give the Junior Starlets a 1-0 lead in the 15th minute.

Lornah Faith made it 2-0 for Kenya in the 36th minute after she fired the ball to the far right corner of the net, perplexing Mexican custodian Camilla Vazquez.

Mexico pulled one back in the dying minutes through Alexa Soto who converted a spot kick in the added minutes.

At the same time, Faith was awarded the player of the match award for her exemplary display in the encounter that left the opponents gasping for breath in both halves.

"This reward means a lot to me, and to my career, I was not expecting it. I just did what I did on the field and I'm surprised that someone else was watching," said Faith.

"I'm more than inspired to give football a chance as a long time investment," the Butere Girls student added.

Feeling proud as the first Kenyan to ever score a goal in a FIFA World Cup match, Nekesa reckoned: " I can't believe it, it's yet to sink in, scoring for Kenya in the early minutes motivated us to perform better in the game, we just felt the opponents were beatable and so we carried on with same momentum to the wire. Once again, I feel very proud to be the one who engineered the process."

Mexico coach Rojas Jimena admitted that a few mistakes cost her side in the match where Kenya was cheered on to victory by a capacity crowd that included even the native Dominicans.

"My young squad wanted to win the encounter but a few blunders at the back cost us the victory, I must commend Kenya for scoring those two beautiful goals. They (opponents ) were fast, strong and I think their players have a future in the sport if they stick together," Jimena stated.

The American tactician further added: "We tried to make a comeback, but time was not on our side. Now that our journey in the tournament is over, we  will analyse our performance in the championship and rectify our shortcomings  because we want to get better."

Kenyan coach Mildred Cheche, who was over the moon with the victory, praised her charges for getting it tactically right to kill the fixture.

"We are happy with the victory, at least we didn't go home empty-handed- we cherish both the points and the player of the match award.

"What worked for us was the speed; we were clinical at the same time outpaced the opponents, and we used our chances well this time round," Cheche stated.

And what does this victory mean to her and the players?

"It means my side is the first Kenyan team to attend and win a match at the World Cup, I'm proud of that because that is sweet history.

"Even if we haven't proceeded to the quarters, this win is still a big thing to the girls and the country," said Cheche.

Cheche again reiterated that her wish is for her girls to stick together and this is the reason she is requesting the federation and the government to ensure the players are helped to get more international friendlies and tournaments to give them exposure.

Kenya finished the tournament third overall in Group C on three points, while Mexico were last in the pool without a point.

Double champions North Korea, who thrashed England 4-0,  finished top of the group on nine points.