Kawempe Muslim Ladies qualify for CAF Women's Champions League

CAF Women’s Champions League CECAFA Qualifiers 2026 Final

Finals

Kawempe Muslim 1 Kenya Police Bullets 0

Third-place play-off

CBE 6 Yei Joint 1

Kawempe Muslim Ladies built their historic CAF Women's Champions League qualification on a strong defence that kept a clean sheet in all four matches of the CECAFA Zonal Qualifiers in Kigali, Rwanda.

The Ugandan champions won all their four matches, scored 13 goals, and conceded none, ending the tournament as champions and earning the CECAFA ticket to the CAF Women's Champions League finals.

Their defence was again tested in the final on Monday when they faced Kenya Police Bullets at Kigali Pelé Stadium.

The match remained goalless for 90 minutes before captain Agnes Nabukenya scored in the 100th minute of extra time to give Kawempe a 1-0 victory.

Kenya Police pushed for an equaliser during the remaining minutes, but Kawempe's defence held firm to complete their unbeaten campaign.

"I am happy with the players because they stayed focused and defended well. We knew the final would be difficult, but their discipline helped us win the trophy and qualify for the Champions League finals too," said coach Ayub Khalifa Kiyingi.

The final was a different test for Kawempe compared to their earlier matches, as they had scored freely before meeting the Kenyan side.

They started the tournament with a 1-0 victory over Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE) before producing their biggest win, an 8-0 thrashing of FC Ujeco of Djibouti.

Kawempe then defeated CBE 3-0 in the semi-final to book their place in the final.

The team had therefore scored 12 goals without conceding before the final, with the clean-sheet record providing the foundation for their title challenge.

"The players trusted our plan, remained calm after the 0-0 draw, and continued fighting until Nabukenya gave us the breakthrough in extra time, and we protected it well," Kiyingi said.

Nabukenya proved important throughout the campaign, finishing with five goals and winning the Most Valuable Player award.

The victory also completed a major turnaround from Kawempe's first appearance in the competition.

The club made its CECAFA debut in 2024 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where they reached the semi-finals but lost to CBE. They recovered to beat Tanzania's Simba Queens 2-0 in the third-place play-off and claimed bronze.

Two years later, Kawempe returned to the competition and went all the way.

Their success was not limited to the team award.

Kawempe's Saida Namwanje was named goalkeeper of the tournament, CBE forward Emush Dandamo finished as the tournament's top scorer with six goals, while Yei Joint Stars received the Fair Play Award.

CBE finished third after beating Yei Joint Stars 6-1 in the third-place play-off.

Kawempe has won six Finance Trust Bank FUFA Women Super League titles since claiming its first championship in 2015 and has established itself as one of the leading forces in Ugandan women's football.

The club will now represent the CECAFA region at the CAF Women's Champions League finals, with CAF yet to announce the host country.

The CECAFA region was previously represented by Vihiga Queens of Kenya in 2021, Simba Queens of Tanzania in 2022, JKT Queens of Tanzania in 2023, CBE of Ethiopia in 2024, and JKT Queens again in 2025.