Written By | Alex Mbamanya
Nicholas Kawooya (yellow) in action agsint Ethiopia
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Kigali
The Uganda Cubs’ impressive performance at the CECAFA U17 Championship in Kigali, Rwanda, has not only earned them admiration from football fans in the host city but also recognition from the organisers’ technical team.
With the group-stage matches concluding on Wednesday and Uganda, Ethiopia, Somalia and hosts Rwanda qualifying for the semi-finals, the CECAFA technical team released the Best XI of the championship’s preliminary stage.
Unsurprisingly, five Uganda Cubs players made the list. Hosts Rwanda, who qualified for the semi-finals with maximum points from their two matches, followed with four players, while Ethiopia and Somalia had one player each.
Uganda’s left-back, Ukasha Jemba, who has been solid in defence and effective going forward, made the team alongside holding midfielder and captain Henry Muhoozi and attacker Arnold Kayemba, whose equaliser against Ethiopia on Wednesday took him to joint top scorer alongside compatriot Sebastian Fisher.
Wingers Nicholas Kwooya and Junior Afoyrwoth, who have each scored a goal, also made the list, bringing the number of Uganda Cubs players in the Best XI to five.
In a 4-3-3 formation, Rwanda’s goalkeeper Emmanuel Nsengiyumva takes the place between the posts, while Somalia’s Hashi Abdalla and Rwanda’s Isaac Ndizeye occupy the central defensive positions. Rwanda’s Khalifa Shyaka completes the back four at right-back.
Henry Muhoozi
Rwanda’s Irene Mugisha joins Muhoozi in midfield, with Kayemba occupying the number 10 role.
Ethiopia’s Zemichael Minyahel Niguse leads the attack as the central striker, with Kawooya on the left wing and Afoyrwoth on the right.
Meanwhile, the Uganda Cubs held a recovery training session at Kigali Pele Stadium on Thursday morning following their 1-1 draw against Ethiopia in their final Group B match on Wednesday evening.
The result confirmed Uganda’s qualification for the semi-finals as group leaders, having collected four points, scored nine goals and conceded one, giving them a goal difference of +8.
Arnold Kayemba
The Cubs will face Ethiopia in Saturday’s semi-final, with a place in the final and an automatic qualification slot for the 2027 AFCON championship at stake. Hosts Rwanda will take on Somalia in the other semi-final.
In last year’s championship, hosted by Ethiopia, Uganda defeated the hosts 3-0 in the semi-finals before losing 3-2 to Tanzania in the final. Uganda, Tanzania and Ethiopia subsequently qualified to represent the CECAFA region at the AFCON U17 Championship in Morocco, where Uganda and Tanzania went on to qualify for the FIFA U17 World Cup in Qatar.
However, Tanzania will not feature at the 2027 AFCON, scheduled to take place in Ghana, after failing to progress beyond the group stage in Kigali. Somalia took their place in the semi-finals after advancing from Group C.
