Harambee Starlets’ journey at the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) came to an end on Thursday night after a 1-0 defeat to Senegal in their second Group A match at the Olympic Stadium in Rabat.

Seynabou Mbengue’s first-half strike proved enough to separate the two sides, as Kenya’s inability to convert a host of chances condemned them to a second successive defeat and confirmed their elimination from the tournament.

The result follows the Starlets’ 4-0 loss to hosts Morocco in their opening fixture, leaving Kenya without a point from two matches. Their final group game against Algeria on August 3 will now be played only to complete the fixture schedule.

Unlike their opening performance, the Starlets began the contest with confidence and purpose, taking the game to Senegal from the opening whistle. Kenya carved out the first meaningful opportunity inside the opening minutes before earning a dangerous free-kick, but failed to turn their early dominance into a goal.

Senegal gradually found their rhythm and began asking questions of the Kenyan defence. Goalkeeper Lilian Awuor produced a series of important saves to keep the Starlets in the contest before the breakthrough finally arrived in the 35th minute, when Mbengue finished off a sustained spell of pressure to give the Teranga Lionesses the lead.

Kenya responded positively before the break, with Terry Engesha and Fasila Adhiambo both forcing Senegal goalkeeper Adji Ndiaye into crucial saves as the Starlets searched for an immediate reply.

The second half belonged largely to Kenya, who pinned Senegal deep inside their own half in pursuit of an equaliser. However, poor decision-making in the final third and wasteful finishing continued to frustrate Beldine Odemba’s side.

Substitute Marion Serenge came close shortly after the hour mark before Kenya endured a painful spell of bad luck. Shilwatso and Engesha both rattled the woodwork within moments of each other, while Engesha struck the post again later in the match after rounding the goalkeeper.

Despite dominating large periods of the second half and creating the better chances, the Starlets could not find a breakthrough as Senegal defended resolutely to secure all three points and revive their own qualification hopes.

Speaking after the match, head coach Beldine Odemba admitted Kenya had been punished for failing to make their chances count.

“Of course we would have done better. As a team, we would have capitalised on our chances and defended better, maybe more of counter-pressing because we had good chances,” said Odemba.

The coach identified finishing as Kenya’s biggest weakness throughout the tournament.

“From the first game we got two clear chances before the opponent was able to score. Today we got even more and better chances. So our issue, I will say outrightly, is chance conversion,” she said.

Despite the elimination, Odemba praised her players for showing greater resilience after falling behind compared to their opening defeat against Morocco.

“I would say that mentally the players did. There is an improvement. You can’t compare to the first match when we went down,” she said.

“In the first match, we went down, and it was really difficult to bring the players back to fight and see that we can score. But to see that we did not concede more goals, especially in the first half, so it is a work in progress, and I can say that I am happy with the mentality so far.”

While Kenya’s return to WAFCON will not extend beyond the group stage, the Starlets will aim to finish their campaign on a positive note when they face Algeria in their final Group A fixture before heading home.