Junior Wafalme Stars hunt semi-final berth in Egypt

After a shaky start, the Junior Wafalme Stars bounced back with back-to-back victories, beating Morocco 3–1 on Monday and Rwanda 3–1 on Tuesday to seal their spot in the quarterfinals.

Assistant coach Gideon Njine is optimistic the U-20 team will ease past the North Africans and secure a place in the last four, with the African title and a World Championship qualification being their end goal.

“We are at a crucial stage where we cannot afford to lose. We didn’t do well last year and we are motivated to fight for the title this year. We have to do our best to qualify for the World Championships,” Njine told Citizen Digital.

However, he says they must work on their backcourt defence, blocks and concentration if they are to lift their first African title.

“We have been having a slow start in our previous matches and we have to change the mentality and serve off on the right note.”

“We also have to work on our back court defense and blocks if we want to stand a chance to win the competition. I’m glad we are improving on our service and we just have to show our Arsenal in all the remaining matches,” Njine added.

Finalists will punch their tickets to the 2028 World Championships after the 2026 edition was scrapped off.