Kenya’s Harambee Starlets have suffered a devastating blow as they lost 1-0 to Tanzania’s Twiga Stars in the CECAFA women’s championship final on Saturday, June 21, 2025.

The game was held at the Azam Complex Stadium in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. 

The Starlets played with passion and were trying very hard to secure the win but their hopes were crushed when they accidentally scored against themselves giving Tanzania the CECAFA title.

The Harambee Starlets’ road to the final has been nothing short of incredible. With coach Beldine Odemba’s expertise, the team played very well in the group stages. They had won against teams with scores such as Burundi 3-0, Uganda 4-0 and South Sudan 4-0.

However, Tanzania’s Twiga Stars had also brought out their A game, having easily beaten their opponents with scores such as 6-0 against Burundi and 4-0 against South Sudan in the group stages.

This set the stage for an epic showdown between the two giants.

Tanzania had possession of the ball more, but neither team had any good chances to score. It was 0-0 at halftime.

After halftime, in the 48th minute, a long strike from Tanzania’s Clara Luvanga led to a disastrous moment for Kenya, as Enez Mango misjudged the ball and inadvertently turned it into her own net.

This changed the game in favor of the Twiga stars. Kenya tried to score against Tanzania’s strong defense, but they couldn’t, leading to the game finishing with a score of 1-0.

This was a very sad loss for the Harambee Starlets as they had wanted to win the title again, which they last won back in 2019.

They had also wanted to have as many CECAFA titles as Tanzania who have already won three times.