Uganda U17 nationwide crew captain Owen Mukisa has delivered a powerful rallying message forward of the Cubs’ opening problem on the U-17 Africa Cup of Nations, insisting the crew is able to compete with confidence, starvation, and perception.
Mukisa says the squad enters the event in excessive spirits after a powerful preparation camp in Morocco, the place Uganda registered back-to-back pleasant victories that sharpened each confidence and unity throughout the group.
The Cubs first beat Mozambique 3-1 earlier than edging Mali 1-0 in dramatic trend, with substitute Arafat Ibanda scoring a stoppage-time winner to finish an ideal build-up run.
Now primarily based at Lycée d’Excellence (LYDEX), Uganda are finalising preparations forward of their Group B opener towards DR Congo on Thursday.
Reflecting on the crew’s rising confidence, Mukisa highlighted the affect the preparatory matches have had on the squad.
These two preparational matches managed to offer us confidence and now we have a number of beliefs and hopes,” Mukisa mentioned.
“The boys are working so onerous.”
Uganda are making their third look on the U-17 AFCON, having beforehand featured in 2019 and 2025. On each events, the Cubs have been eradicated on the group stage — a document Mukisa and his teammates are decided to vary this time.
This 12 months’s event carries even larger stakes, because it doubles as a qualification pathway to the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Qatar.
It must be famous that the highest 10 groups from the U-17 AFCON will qualify robotically as Africa’s representatives on the international showpiece.
Uganda have already got latest World Cup expertise, having made their debut on the 2025 FIFA U-17 World Cup, the place they reached the Spherical of 16 earlier than shedding to Burkina Faso. That marketing campaign stays their solely look on the event, and Mukisa now leads a squad decided to safe a second consecutive qualification.
The skipper additionally made it clear that Uganda’s ambitions stretch past merely collaborating on the continental showpiece.
Our aim is to succeed in the World Cup,” Mukisa acknowledged firmly.
If we obtain our aim, then we will stay up for the trophy.”
Past DR Congo, Uganda can even face Cameroon and Ivory Coast in what guarantees to be a extremely aggressive Group B marketing campaign.