Kampala Queens’ bid to succeed in their first-ever last within the CAF Ladies’s Champions League qualifiers resulted in heartbreak after a nerve wracking penalty shootout loss to Rwanda’s Rayon Sports activities Ladies on the Kasarani Stadium in Nairobi on Sunday, September 14, 2025.
In what was their second try to interrupt into the ultimate of the regional qualifiers, Uganda’s prime ladies’s soccer facet fell simply quick, bowing out 4-3 on penalties after a goalless stalemate throughout 120 tense minutes within the first semifinal.
Led by coach Charles Asefa, Kampala Queens entered the match with renewed confidence and excessive expectations. Their semifinal in opposition to Rayon Sports activities was a tightly contested affair, characterised by robust defensive group and few clear-cut probabilities from both facet.
Each groups displayed exceptional self-discipline on the again, with goalkeepers on both finish particularly Kampala Queens’ shot-stopper producing important saves to maintain the sport deadlocked by way of regulation and further time. The Queens pressed onerous within the further half-hour, displaying indicators of fatigue but in addition flashes of attacking urgency. Nonetheless, their battle within the last third continued, as they did not convert strain into targets.
With the ultimate spot at stake, the semifinal was in the end determined from the penalty spot. Kampala Queens noticed Teddy Najjuma, Shakira Nakwanga, and Joanita Ainembabazi efficiently convert their makes an attempt, however the misses from Catherine Nagadya and Zaituni Namaganda proved pricey.
Rayon Sports activities, medical and composed, edged the shootout 4-3 to e book their place within the last, the place they await the winner between Tanzania’s JKT and Kenya Bullets.
Although Kampala Queens’ dream of CAF Ladies’s Champions League glory has ended for this 12 months, the journey isn’t fully over. They are going to now regroup to battle for the bronze medal in opposition to the loser of the JKT vs. Kenya Bullets semifinal within the third-place playoff.
Past this match, the Queens are anticipated to shift focus to home soccer, returning to Kampala to organize for the 2025–2026 season of the Monetary Belief Financial institution FUFA Ladies’s Tremendous League. With this 12 months’s continental expertise below their belt, the group will intention to construct on the teachings discovered and return stronger.
Regardless of the frustration, Kampala Queens’ efficiency in Nairobi confirms their rising standing as considered one of East Africa’s best ladies’s soccer golf equipment. Their resilience, defensive solidity, and continued qualification for the latter levels of the CAF regional qualifiers are indicators of a brilliant future.
As they flip their consideration again residence, the Kampala Queens carry not simply the ache of missed alternative but in addition the promise of potential but to be fulfilled.
