Kenya's Junior Starlets will take on one of the most successful nations in youth women's football when they face Japan in the round of 16 of the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup in Morocco on Thursday night.

Kick-off is at 9pm East African Time. It will be the first knockout match a Kenyan side has ever played at the tournament, after the young Starlets made history at the weekend by sealing a place in the last 16.

How Kenya got here

The road to the knockouts was far from smooth. Kenya lost their opening Group E match 3-0 to China and were then beaten 6-1 by the United States, leaving their hopes hanging by a thread.

They responded with a commanding 4-0 win over Samoa on October 25, a result that lifted them into one of the four best third-placed slots. Mwanakombo Bakari scored twice and was named Player of the Match, with Brenda Awuor and Gaudancia Maloba also on the scoresheet.

A giant of youth football

Japan arrive with a formidable record. They won the U-17 Women's World Cup in 2014, finished runners-up in 2010 and 2016, and have lifted the AFC U-17 Women's Asian Cup four times.

Coach Mildred Cheche did not downplay the size of the task. "It is not an easy side to defeat," she said, according to Citizen Digital, adding that her team would prepare well for the encounter.

Bakari, Kenya's standout player so far, said she would be "more determined" against Japan and hopes to add to her tally.

The defensive worry

The biggest concern for the technical bench is at the back. Kenya conceded nine goals in their first two matches, a record the Eastleigh Voice flags as the key test against a Japanese side known for patient, possession-based football.

Key questions ahead of the match:

  • Can Kenya stay compact for 90 minutes against a side that likes to keep the ball?
  • Will Bakari get enough service to repeat her Samoa heroics?
  • Can the team carry the confidence of the Samoa win into a knockout setting?

Reports differ slightly on the venue, with Citizen Digital listing the Mohammed VI Stadium in Rabat and the Eastleigh Voice placing the match on Pitch 3 of the Mohammed VI Football Complex.

A win would send Kenya into the quarter-finals and extend what is already the country's best showing at a FIFA women's youth tournament. Whatever the result, the run has given Kenyan women's football a welcome lift and a new generation of players to watch.

Photos: Citizen Digital; The Eastleigh Voice. Thumbnail design: HAMASTA MEDIA.