{"id":4734,"date":"2026-10-20T08:22:28","date_gmt":"2026-10-20T08:22:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/?p=4734"},"modified":"2026-10-20T08:22:28","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T08:22:28","slug":"mukazayire-urges-rwanda-u-17-to-keep-pushing-after-historic-qualification","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/20\/mukazayire-urges-rwanda-u-17-to-keep-pushing-after-historic-qualification\/sports\/","title":{"rendered":"Mukazayire urges Rwanda U-17 to keep pushing after historic qualification"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"678\" height=\"452\" src=\"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/images-13.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4735\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/images-13.jpg 678w, https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/images-13-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 678px) 100vw, 678px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sports Minister Nelly Mukazayire has urged Rwanda\u2019s under-17 national team to maintain their determination after securing a place at the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations, ending a 15-year wait for a return to the continental tournament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mukazayire congratulated the team after Rwanda defeated Ethiopia 2-1 to finish third at the CECAFA U-17 Championship at Kigali Pele Stadium on Monday, October 19, 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She praised the players for fighting until the final whistle and encouraged them to keep working towards further success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe journey continues. Thank you very much, Amavubi U-17. Well done, children of Rwanda. No turning back; the goal is to keep pushing until the end. You are capable, and we are behind you,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Shema Jayden and Isaac Ndizeye scored Rwanda\u2019s goals against Ethiopia, securing the victory that confirmed the team\u2019s qualification for the 2027 Africa U-17 Cup of Nations in Morocco.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"701\" height=\"556\" src=\"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/dd.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4737\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/dd.png 701w, https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/dd-300x238.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 701px) 100vw, 701px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The achievement marks Rwanda\u2019s return to the continental competition for the first time since 2011.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The team\u2019s focus will now shift towards preparing for the tournament, where they will compete against other qualified national sides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mukazayire\u2019s message comes as the young players prepare for a bigger test on the continental stage, following their performance at the regional championship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"674\" height=\"455\" src=\"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/images-1-9.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4738\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/images-1-9.jpg 674w, https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/images-1-9-300x203.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 674px) 100vw, 674px\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sports Minister Nelly Mukazayire has urged Rwanda\u2019s under-17 national team to maintain their determination after securing a place at the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4735,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,53,34,27,40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current_affairs","category-featured-stories","category-national","category-sports","category-top_stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4734","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4734"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4734\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4739,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4734\/revisions\/4739"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}