Kenya’s national women’s football team, the Harambee Starlets, began their West African tour on a somber note, falling 2-0 to Benin in an international friendly match played on Monday evening at the Felix Houphouët-Boigny Stadium.
The match, which serves as a critical build-up for the upcoming 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) in Morocco, exposed areas of concern for head coach Beldine Odemba as the team fine-tunes its squad for the continental showpiece later this month.
Kenya XI vs Benin
The Starlets struggled to find their rhythm early on against a disciplined Benin side. Despite flashes of individual brilliance from the likes of Jentrix Shikangwa and Mwanalima Adam, the Kenyan defense was breached late in the first half. Benin took a deserved 1-0 lead into the interval, leaving the Starlets with a mountain to climb in the humid conditions of Abidjan.
Coach Odemba made several tactical adjustments in the second period, introducing fresh legs to bolster the midfield. However, the search for an equalizer left Kenya vulnerable at the back. Benin doubled their lead, sealing the 2-0 victory at full-time.
While the result is a setback, the primary objective of these friendlies remains the evaluation of the 25-player squad named last week. Kenya is drawn in a daunting Group A for the 2026 WAFCON, where they will face: Morocco (Hosts), Senegal and Algeria.
Friendly matches against high-caliber West African opposition like Benin are designed to simulate the physical and tactical pressure the Starlets will encounter in Rabat and Casablanca.
The Starlets won’t have much time to dwell on the loss. They remain in Abidjan for their second and final friendly in Ivory Coast:
