By Angela Bambala Bwalya
Zambia U-17 women’s national team goalkeeper Bukata Kakumbi says a lack of self-belief, confidence and communication contributed to the Copper Princesses’ disappointing campaign at the 2026 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup.
Zambia suffered three consecutive defeats in Morocco, exiting the tournament without a point after finishing bottom of Group D.
The Copper Princesses began their campaign with a 5-0 loss to Japan before suffering a 3-2 defeat to Venezuela. They then concluded their group-stage campaign with a narrow 1-0 loss to France.
The results left Zambia with two goals scored and nine conceded across their three matches, falling short of their hopes of reaching the knockout stages.
Kakumbi admitted the team had expected a much stronger performance, particularly after seeing other African representatives progress to the last 16.
“To be honest, the tournament was tough because this isn’t how we were expecting to perform. Our African mates were at least reaching the round of 16, and I was expecting the same for us, and even more, reaching the final. But anyway, we plan and God decides,” she said.
Reflecting on the factors behind Zambia’s struggles, the goalkeeper pointed to a lack of belief within the squad, suggesting that confidence and communication were crucial areas where the team fell short.
“I think the biggest challenge was that we weren’t believing in ourselves. We didn’t have confidence. We were supposed to communicate and coordinate together as a team,” Kakumbi explained.
The young shot-stopper also expressed disappointment with the team’s overall performance, insisting that the players were capable of delivering a better showing on the global stage.
“Personally speaking, the way I know us, the way we performed wasn’t the best. We could have done better than that. I don’t even know how I can put it,” she said.
Despite the disappointing campaign, Kakumbi thanked supporters for their backing and apologised for the team’s failure to meet expectations, while pledging to improve in future competitions.
“Thank you for your support, and sorry for disappointing you. We promise to do better next time,” she said.
The tournament provides a learning opportunity for a young Zambian side that will now look to address the shortcomings identified by Kakumbi and build on the experience of competing against some of the world’s best youth teams.
