India women's football team rival watch: Kenya

The Blue Tigresses look to bounce back after the AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2026

The Indian women’s football team returns to action, participating in the 2026 FIFA Women’s Series matches in Nairobi, Kenya, from April 11 to April 15, 2026. The Blue Tigresses are eagerly looking to bounce back strongly from their disappointing campaign at the 2026 AFC Women’s Asian Cup, in which they were eliminated in the group stages.

With Crispin Chhetri back as their head coach, the Indian side will be facing off against hosts Kenya in their first match of the FIFA Women’s Series bout. It’ll definitely pose as a unique challenge for the Blue Tigresses, who will be facing the hosts in their own yard, knowing that the Kenyan players will benefit from having their home support and make good use of their advantage.

As both teams prepare to make a positive impact in the 2026 FIFA Women’s Series tournament, here we look at a closer look at the Kenya side in this edition of our Rival Watch.

About the team

The inception of the Kenya national team was in 1985, at a period when women’s football in African football was restricted to part-time players. The Kenyan women’s team, at the time, were themselves those who played football for fun and had to rely on employment in other sectors.

The Kenyan Football Federation started overseeing the women’s national team’s management from 1996 onwards, and the Kenyan women’s team also played in the qualifiers for the Summer Olympics in 2003. The Kenya women’s team played their first FIFA-approved international match in 2006, with a 7-0 thrashing of the Djibouti women’s team.

Since then, the Harambee Starlets have fought hard to climb up the ladder in the African women’s football scene. The Kenya women’s team have only qualified for the Women’s African Cup of Nations once in 2016, where they were eliminated in the group stages. They’ve never played in a FIFA Women’s World Cup, and the only piece of silverware won by the Kenya women’s football team came in the 2019 CECAFA Women’s Championship.

The Kenya women’s football team are currently ranked in the 133th place in the FIFA Women’s Football Rankings. However, they’re now in line to play some tough matches in the FIFA Women’s Series and must produce their sturdiest display to be able to outwit the Indian ladies.

Recent performances

The Kenya women’s football team haven’t really had the best of starts to 2026, having lost both their matches this year in narrow fashion to the Ivory Coast and Benin. The Harambee Starlets, however, did play a lot of matches in 2025 across multiple competitions and that also included their fight in the 2026 Women’s African Cup of Nations qualifiers.

The Kenyan side fought hard in the qualification round and managed to fight their way to qualify for the 2026 Women’s AFCON as well, making it the second time they’ll play in the tournament.

In 2025, the Harambee Starlets won six of their 13 matches across various competitions, as they also finished as the silver medal winners of the CECAFA Women’s Championship by winning three of the four matches in that competition as well.

Head Coach

Beldine Odemba has been the head coach of the Kenya women’s football team since 2023, and she’s also showcased an amazing work ethic by doing so. That is because not only does Odemba coach the Harambee Starlets, but she has also simultaneously been working as the Kenya U20 women’s national team head coach, as well as coaching Kenya Women’s Premier League side Kenya Police Bullets and a school side, Highway Academy!

Odemba, a former Kenyan women’s international footballer, thrives in her multi-tasking role, and she’s done an admirable job at helping her side climb the rankings over the years. It was Beldine’s impressive work that helped Kenya’s women’s football team to qualify for the 2026 Women’s AFCON, as well as climbing up the FIFA Women’s World Ranking ladder as well!

Beldine seemingly prefers to operate her side in a 4-2-3-1 formation, where they can keep a relatively sturdy defensive shape and also be a threat on the transitions. The Harambee Starlets will need to further amplify their defensive sturdiness and efficiency in the final third to be able to be a major threat for the Indian side.

Players to watch out

Mwanalima Jereko

Mwanalima Jereko has done an admirable job of climbing up the ranks in the Kenyan women’s football scene over the years and has become a key player for the national team. The 28-year-old midfielder, who is currently playing for Danish top division club HB Koge’s women’s side, played a key role in Kenya’s successes in matches in 2025.

Jereko scored goals in their two wins over Gambia women, helping them earn their place in the 2026 Women’s AFCON, as well as scoring in recent games against Algeria’s women’s side as well. She will now be determined to regain her impressive international form by being a thorn for the Indian defenders, using her clever off-the-ball movement skills and ability to get to the end of chances to get amongst the goals.

Violet Wanyonyi

Violet Wanyonyi has proven herself as one of the most clinical players in the Kenya women’s football scene, having produced some eye-catching performances for the Harambee Starlets in 2025 as well. She scored two goals for Kenya in the CECAFA Championship last year and has been a consistent performer in the Kenya Women’s Premier League over the years as well, scoring 25 goals in 22 games for AM Laayoune from 2022-2025.

Violet can be a really decisive striker, using her clever movement ability to dart past defenders and sniff out chances by getting to the end of them. Wanyonyi will look to be a troublesome figure for the Indian side, but she will need to be at her ruthless best in terms of finishing off chances perfectly to help them get a big result over the Blue Tigresses.

What to expect from this clash?

Even though the Kenya women’s team are firmly the underdog heading into the 2026 FIFA Women’s Series tournament, they are not going to let themselves be dominated and bullied. They might be way behind the Indian women’s team in the FIFA rankings, but the Kenyan side will look to make use of their home advantage to take the fight to their opponents.

The Harambee Starlets might not be able to dominate that much of possession in the game. Nor are they expected to create a host of chances. However, they will look to frustrate the Indian side with their sturdy defensive organisation and cut down the empty spaces for their opponents to make it all the tougher for them to score goals.

The Kenya women’s side is probably going to be relatively pleased to concede possession and sit back to withstand pressure. They’ll also look to be menacing on the counter-attacks and in set-piece situations to create chances in what might end up being a gritty game against India.

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