Kenya’s wait for a Federation of East Africa Secondary Schools Sports Association (FEASSSA) girls’ football title will extend to eight years after both Nyakach Girls and St. Joseph’s Girls Kitale were eliminated in the group stages of the 2026 Games in Morogoro, Tanzania.The two Kenyan representatives had arrived with high expectations after securing the country’s slots in the regional competition, but neither could secure a place in the semi-finals despite showing flashes of quality throughout their campaigns.##NAJAVA_MECA_9901531##Kenya’s last success in the girls’ football competition came in 2018 when Kwale Girls lifted the regional crown, and the latest setback means the country will have to wait at least another year for an opportunity to end the drought.St. Joseph’s Girls, the reigning Kenyan champions, suffered the more painful exit after finishing third in Group B despite completing their campaign unbeaten.JOGA collected six points from four matches, recording one victory and three draws while scoring four goals and conceding only one for a +3 goal difference.Download our Mozzart Sport App for more newsTheir defensive solidity, however, could not compensate for the points dropped in three stalemates.Their fate was eventually decided after Uganda’s Boni Consili edged Alliance Girls 1-0 in the final Group B match, result that lifted the Ugandan side to seven points and pushed the Kenyan champions into third place by a single point.FEASSSA: Musingu diehard fan Lijembe examines what went wrong for Kenyan football sides in MorogoroThe Kitale side were therefore left to rue missed opportunities in matches where victory could have changed the complexion of their campaign, with their unbeaten record offering little consolation after failing to turn enough draws into wins.Nyakach Girls endured a more turbulent route in Group A, finishing third with seven points after five matches.The Nyanza-based side recorded two wins, one draw and two defeats, scoring four goals and conceding the same number to finish with a neutral goal difference.FEASSSA: Nyakach coach identifies experience gap as stumbling block, demands more from Junior Starlets starsTheir hopes of reaching the last four were effectively extinguished on Matchday Four when they suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat to Rwanda’s PSB Huye.That result left the Kenyan side needing a combination of results to keep their qualification hopes alive, but although they responded with a 1-0 victory over Tanzania’s Fountain Gate in their final match.Ultimately, the points collected proved not enough to lift them into the top two.The win over Fountain Gate at least allowed Nyakach to finish their campaign on a positive note, but by then their destiny had already slipped beyond their control.The simultaneous elimination of the two Kenyan sides leaves the semi-finals heavily tilted towards Uganda, with three of the four remaining teams coming from the country.##NAJAVA_MECA_9902119##Uganda’s Rines will face Boni Consili in an all-Ugandan semi-final, while Amus College will take on Rwanda’s PSB Huye in the other last-four encounter.The results shows he growing strength of Ugandan school football at the regional level, with the country having three representatives within touching distance of the title while Kenya’s campaign has come to an early end.Their exits mean Kenya will once again watch the decisive stages of the competition from the sidelines, extending a drought that began after Kwale Girls’ triumph eight years ago.The 2026 FEASSSA Games will take a break on Thursday as Morogoro hosts national and cultural festivities before the semifinals resume on Friday, August 20.The finals in most disciplines are scheduled for Saturday, 21 August, when the official closing ceremony will also be held at Jamhuri Stadium in Morogoro.FEASSSA: Green Commandos star reveals how indiscipline nearly ended his football career