Africa-Press – Rwanda. Rwanda Women’s U20 national team captain Chance Ndayizeye has said that she and her teammates are eager to achieve big fortunes a the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup 2026 qualifiers after eliminating Zimbabwe in the first round in Kigali.
Rwanda held Zimbabwe to a goalless draw at Kigali Pele Stadium on Wednesday, May 14, to advance into the second round of the qualifiers with a 2-1 aggregate win where they will face Nigeria in September.
They may face a way tougher side in Nigeria but Ndayizeye hopes her team deserves more than just a second round qualification no matter who they face.
“It is good for us, players, to reach this round because we see it is possible to change our mindset by competing with big teams and eliminate them. We had a good game, especially in first leg where we scored two goals and defended well in the return leg,” Ndayizeye said.
“We now need to work hard as we face a tough match against Nigeria. We have to improve our game and mindset. We are still underdogs against Nigeria but we are happy to reach to this level and we must challenge ourselves to chase our chances of reaching far,” she added.
Asked about Rwanda’s disallowed goal against Zimbabwe, Ndayizeye said that “That is the past, we thought it was a goal but our focus now is to think about the next game.”
Meanwhile, head coach Andre Casa Mbungo hailed his team for showing resilience which he insists had an impact on eliminating Zimbabwe.
“The girls have shown fighting spirit in the two games, especially in second leg. We scored two goals in the first leg but we failed to maximize our chances. But I think, overall, we played good football and we fought until the end,” Mbungo said.
Other CECAFA countries that qualified for the second round of the U20 Women’s World Cup 2026 qualifiers, include Ethiopia who will face Kenya, and Tanzania who will take on Angola.
Uganda will take on Namibia, while Burundi battle Zambia.
After four qualifying rounds, the top four teams out of the 38 which started the qualifying campaign will represent Africa in the 12th edition of the U20 Women’s World Cup in Poland from September 5-27, 2026.
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