CECAFA Confirms Eight Teams for 2026 U-17 Women’s Championship in Tanzania

The Council of East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA) has confirmed that eight teams will participate in the 2026 CECAFA U-17 Women’s Championship.

The tournament will be hosted by Tanzania from June 13 to 23 in Dar es Salaam.

CECAFA Competitions Manager Yusuf Mossi confirmed that eight Member Associations have officially registered for the competition.

“We received confirmation from eight Member Associations, including Somalia and Sudan, who will field women’s teams for the first time at the international level,” Mossi said.

The teams that have confirmed participation are Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Djibouti, Rwanda, Burundi, Somalia, and Sudan.

Mossi also noted that the tournament will serve as important preparation for teams that progress to the final stage of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup qualifiers.

“The tournament will also help teams from our zone that qualify for the last stage of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup qualifiers to prepare better,” he explained.

Uganda will be aiming to replicate their success in the competition, having won the title in 2019 under head coach Ayub Khalifah.

In addition to the U-17 Women’s Championship, CECAFA is set to organise five other competitions this year, including the CECAFA Kagame Cup, the CAF African Schools Football Championship CECAFA qualifiers, and the CECAFA qualifiers for both the Africa Cup of Nations U-20 and U-17 tournaments.