By Angela Bambala Bwalya
Zambia Under-17 women’s coach Carol Kanyemba has challenged her players to respond positively to their opening defeat to Japan when they face Venezuela at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Morocco 2026 on Wednesday.
The Copper Princesses suffered a 5-0 loss to Japan in their opening Group D match, leaving them needing a positive result against Venezuela to strengthen their hopes of reaching the round of 16.
Venezuela also lost their opening match, going down 2-0 to France, meaning both sides will be seeking their first points of the tournament when they meet in Rabat.
Kanyemba believes Zambia can recover from their disappointing start, insisting the opening defeat should serve as a learning experience rather than define their campaign.
“This is our first session after the defeat, and we appreciate all the support that we received. We know that we lost the game, but there are a few positives that we have picked up and a lot of lessons that we have learned from it,” she said.
The coach identified defensive compactness as a key area for improvement after Zambia struggled to contain Japan’s movement and technical quality.
“One of the lessons was compactness. I think we were marking in isolation, and that is why we were being displaced a lot. So we have been working on compactness in the days after we played that game and going into the Venezuela game,” Kanyemba said.
The technical bench has also focused on the players’ mental approach, encouraging them to put the opening result behind them and view the Venezuela encounter as a fresh opportunity to progress.
“Defeat in the tournament is not the end of the tournament. That was a setback, but it should be a setup for our comeback,” she said.
Kanyemba added that maintaining a positive mentality would be crucial as Zambia seek to secure the points needed to keep their knockout-stage ambitions alive.
“We are teaching our girls to have the right attitude towards the game, forget about the defeats and look at the next game as a new game altogether, and as an opportunity for us to progress from this group stage,” she said.
Zambia reached the round of 16 at the previous edition and are determined to build on that achievement, with Kanyemba warning against allowing the heavy loss to Japan to shape expectations for the remainder of the tournament.
“The first game that we played shouldn’t be the determinant of how far we can go in the tournament. The game that we play against Venezuela should be the one to help us get a point or maximum points so that we stand a better chance of being part of the teams that will qualify for the round of 16,” she said.
The coach expects a different test against Venezuela, describing the South Americans as a physically strong side whose direct approach bears similarities to African football.
While Japan posed problems through their technical ability and tactical organisation, Kanyemba believes Zambia must be prepared to match Venezuela’s physicality and intensity.
“Japan was very tactically and technically good, whilst Venezuela is physical. They play almost the same game as African football,” she said.
She has urged her players not to be intimidated by their opponents, expressing confidence that Zambia possess the physical attributes to compete.
“We are telling the girls that regardless of the complexion, we are almost the same. We are all physical, we can all run, we can all chase that ball. They play almost directly, with very little mobility compared to the Japan game,” Kanyemba said.
For the coach, the difference could ultimately come down to the mindset the players bring into the contest.
“The only difference between us and the winners is the attitude we go with in the games,” she said.
Wednesday’s encounter will also offer Zambia an opportunity to avenge their 4-0 defeat to Venezuela at the 2014 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Costa Rica. The two nations meet again 12 years later with different generations of players and a place in the knockout-stage race at stake.
Zambia and Venezuela kick off at 20:00 CAT, while Japan face France at 17:00 CAT in the group’s other fixture.
The top two teams in each group will automatically qualify for the round of 16, with four additional places available to the best third-placed teams across the groups.
Both matches will be streamed live on FIFA+.
