TANZANIA’s U-20 women’s national team overturned a first-leg deficit against Cameroon to book their ticket to the 2026 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Poland at the New Amaan Complex in Zanzibar on Monday, May 11th, 2026.
Trailing 3-1 after a first leg loss in Yaoundé, the “Tanzanite” starlets beat Cameroon 2-0 to level the aggregate score at 3-3 and progress via the away goals rule.
Goals from Mary Aron and Hasnath Ubamba for the qualification to mark a major milestone for Tanzanian football, as Tanzanite Queens become the first East African team to qualify for the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup. They are also only the second Tanzanian women’s national side to reach a FIFA World Cup tournament after the country’s U-17 girls’ team achieved the feat in 2022.
Interestingly, both Tanzanian teams reached the World Cup by eliminating Cameroon.
Back in 2022, the national team defeated Cameroon 5-1 on aggregate during the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup qualifiers. Tanzania won 4-1 away before sealing qualification with a 1-0 victory at the same New Amaan Complex in Zanzibar. The team later went on to reach the quarterfinals of the tournament held in India.
Tanzanite Queens now join three other African representatives at the upcoming FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup joining Nigeria and Ghana along with fellow finals debutants Benin.
While Ghana will be making their eighth appearance at the tournament and Nigeria their 12th, Tanzania will enter the competition as debutants, continuing a remarkable rise in women’s football and inspiring a new generation of young players across the country and the East African region.
The side’s route to the World Cup has included victories over some of the continent’s strongest teams including a 7-0 aggregate win against Angola before a 3-1 aggregate victory against Kenya.
The result marks another milestone for Tanzanian football, with the country securing a fourth appearance by a national team at a FIFA World Cup tournament in recent years.
Tanzania previously qualified for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in 2022 through the national girls’ under-17 side.
The national amputee team also reached the Amputee Football World Cup in the same year, while the women’s futsal team qualified for the FIFA Futsal Women’s World Cup last year.
Benin , Tanzania, Ecuador, New Caledonia, Portugal and hosts Poland will also make their debuts in the competition. All 24 teams will discover their group-stage opponents at the Final Draw in Lodz on Friday 15 May.
