Kenya's Junior Starlets face China in U-17 Women's World Cup opener on 19 October

Kenya's Junior Starlets play China in their opening Group E match at the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup in Morocco on 19 October, on Pitch 1 of the Women's Football Complex, Capital FM reported. The tenth edition of the tournament opens on the evening of 17 October, the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) reported.

Group E also holds the United States and Samoa. Kenya play the United States on 22 October on Pitch 3 and Samoa on 25 October on Pitch 4, according to Capital FM. The top two teams in each group and the four best third-placed teams reach the round of 16, Citizen Digital reported on 16 October. The tournament runs to 7 November, with the final in Rabat, KBC said.

This is Kenya's second appearance at the tournament. They qualified in July by beating South Africa 5-1 on aggregate, winning 2-0 in Pretoria and 3-1 at Nyayo Stadium in Nairobi, Capital FM reported. At the 2024 tournament in the Dominican Republic, Kenya lost 2-0 to England and 3-0 to North Korea, the eventual winners, and beat Mexico 2-1.

Head coach Mildred Cheche named a final squad of 21 players, Pulse Sports reported on 16 October: three goalkeepers, seven defenders, five midfielders and six forwards. Four players were dropped after injuries in friendlies against Sporting Club Casablanca and Ghana's under-17 side, Citizen Digital said. Peninah Fostine and Joan Agola made the squad after impressing in training camp. Midfielder Mwanakombo Bakari, who plays for Spire Academy in the United States, joined the squad in Morocco after arriving from the US on 15 October.

The team reached Morocco on 8 October, Pulse Sports reported. It did not go to its planned pre-tournament camp in Spain because of a logistical hiccup, The Standard reported on 10 October.

Captain Beverlyne Awuor said, as quoted by Citizen Digital on 2 October: "Last time we won one match, this time we want to win more than one, and even reach the finals." Cheche said at the time that the technical bench had been "analysing the team and working on the areas that need improvement".

China are coached by Ma Xiaoxu, 38, who was named AFC Women's Player of the Year in 2006 at the age of 18, Xinhua reported on 10 August. China qualified by reaching the semi-finals of the AFC U-17 Women's Asian Cup in May, where they lost 4-2 to the defending champions North Korea. The squad trained in Shanghai and at the national football training base from 5 August to 6 September.

Liu Yuxi scored twice in the Asian Cup semi-final against North Korea, and Ju Zhitong and Li Qixian also scored at the tournament, Xinhua reported on 16 August. At the 2025 tournament, also held in Morocco, China beat Ecuador 4-0 in their last group game to finish second in the group and reach the round of 16, according to Xinhua's report of 25 October 2025.

This is China's fifth U-17 Women's World Cup, after 2012, 2014, 2022 and 2025, US Soccer said.