Zambia’s U17 Women’s National Team has been eliminated from the 2024 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup after losing 2-0 to Poland in their second group match on Monday morning, following a 1-0 loss to Brazil in their opener.

The Copper Princesses dominated play against Poland, but early goals in both halves, scored by Kinga Wyrwas in the seventh minute and Weronika Arasniewicz in the 46th, were enough to end Zambia’s group stage campaign.

Carol Kanyemba, Zambia’s coach, has cited her team’s inability to convert chances as the primary reason for their early elimination from the 2024 Dominican Republic World Cup.

“I think lack of clinicalness on goal has affected us. We tried to create a lot of chances but unfortunately, we couldn’t get a goal and that was the difference,” she said.

This year marked Zambia’s second appearance at the U-17 World Cup, having debuted in 2014 in Costa Rica, where they were also eliminated in the group stage, though they secured one win.

‘It is a learning curve’—Kanyemba

Kanyemba views this year’s participation as a learning curve for future competitions.

“Being here is a great experience. We have learnt our lessons and we learnt on the weaknesses that we have.”

The Copper Princesses will have one last chance to match their 2014 record when they play Japan in their final group match on October 23.

However, the team’s inability to score, particularly in away games, has been a recurring problem. Zambia has now failed to score in five consecutive away games, a trend that started in the qualifiers and has continued in the tournament. Kanyemba is determined to work on this area of improvement.

“Going back home as we are preparing for next year’s tournaments and any other game, we need to work on the finishing part. Because in a tournament, getting goals means everything. Once you are able to score and get goals, you are assured of remaining in the tournament.”