FKF President Unveils Long-Term Harambee Starlets Rebuild After WAFCON Disappointment: 'It Has Been Very Painful'

Football Kenya Federation (FKF) president Hussein Mohammed has reflected on the Harambee Starlets' disappointing 2026 Women's Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) campaign, outlining a long-term strategy aimed at rebuilding the national team.

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Harambee Starlets endured a difficult return to continental football, crashing out at the group stage after losing all three Group A matches.

They opened their campaign with a 4-0 defeat to hosts Morocco before falling 1-0 to Senegal and wrapping up their tournament with a 2-0 loss to Algeria.

Kenya finished bottom of Group A without a point or a goal, underscoring the gap between the Starlets and Africa's top sides after a decade away from the continental showpiece.

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Hussein Mohammed: We Have a Lot of Work to Do

Hussein Mohammed described the AFCON tournament as a sobering but valuable experience for the federation, acknowledging that Harambee Starlets' failure to register a single victory was a major disappointment.

He said the results exposed the work still required for Kenya to become competitive at the highest level of women's football but expressed confidence that the team could recover through a structured, long-term rebuilding process.

The FKF president stressed that bridging the gap with Africa's leading nations would require sustained investment in player development, coaching, and the overall football ecosystem rather than short-term fixes.

He noted that the federation was already looking beyond the tournament and would embark on a comprehensive rebuilding programme centred on nurturing young talent while maintaining a core of experienced players to provide leadership and continuity.

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“For us, it has been a great learning experience. And in the field, there is winning and losing, but it has been very painful because we have not won even one game. But I know that in the future we will recover and be able to build a better team,” Hussein Mohammed said.

“We are aware that it requires a lot of investment to build a team that can compete with countries that have a lot of football information. We have a lot of work to do, and it is time for us to return to the drawing board and to be able to reconstruct our team. We will start with a team of young players, and we will also have a team of senior players."

Hussein Mohammed: We Gave Harambee Starlets Everything They Wanted

Hussein Mohammed maintained that the federation had fulfilled its obligations in preparing Harambee Starlets for the tournament, saying the players received the support they requested throughout their preparations.

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He noted that financial commitments were honoured in full and that performance incentives had also been put in place, underscoring FKF's commitment to creating the best possible environment for the team.

Despite the investment, the FKF president admitted the outcome fell well below expectations, describing the campaign as a setback while urging supporters to view it within the broader context of Kenya's return to continental competition after a decade-long absence.

He argued that competing against established African powerhouses requires years of consistent planning and development rather than immediate results.

Mohammed also pointed out that meaningful progress cannot be achieved within the relatively short period he has been in office, stressing that building a competitive national side is a long-term project.

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He said the federation would continue investing in football development, strengthen its efforts to identify and integrate Kenyan players based both locally and abroad, and prioritise youth development as the foundation for sustained success in future international competitions.

“We were able to give our team everything they asked for. We have put in a lot of effort to prepare them well. All their payments were paid, and we also promised them extra bonuses. So, we, as a federation, did whatever it is that we could do to prepare the national team. And I think it is important for us to remember that it's been 10 years since we participated at this continental level,” Hussein Mohammed said.

“For us, of course, as a federation, we are not happy with this dismal performance. But at the end of the day, we must also accept that we are not yet at that level. I've only been in office one and a half years. Football is built over 10, 15 years. You can't build a team within that short period of time. We, of course, give it our best effort, but we need time.

“We need to invest. We need to get the best players from all the clubs around the world, the Kenyans who are playing wherever they are playing. And it takes time to build a team. The focus for us should be on how we develop the youth teams now moving forward.”

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