Rwanda held Zimbabwe to a goalless draw at Kigali Pele Stadium on Wednesday, May 14, to advance into the second round of the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup 2026 qualifiers. Rwanda had beaten Zimbabwe 2-1 in the first leg on May 11, and a draw in the second leg at the same ground was enough to qualify for the next round where they will face Nigeria in September. Both matches were played at in Rwanda as Zimbabwe failed to present a stadium that meets standards required by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and FIFA. During the second leg, both teams stuck with a more cautious approach while also creating a host of scoring opportunities but neither side could find the back of the net. Zimbabwe piled pressure on Mbungo’s girls in the final 10 minutes but Rwandan young goalkeeper Joana Maombi held on to keep a clean sheet. READ: Rwanda to face Zimbabwe in U20 women’s world cup qualifiers Qualification format 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. Cameroon, Ghana, Morocco and Nigeria represented Africa in the last edition in Colombia in 2024. Nigeria and Cameroon made it to the round of 16.
