Kampala Queens’ bid to achieve 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 high 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 towards Rayon Sports activities was a tightly contested affair, characterised by sturdy defensive group and few clear-cut possibilities from both facet.

Each groups displayed exceptional self-discipline on the again, with goalkeepers on both finish particularly Kampala Queens’ shot-stopper producing essential saves to maintain the sport deadlocked via regulation and further time. The Queens pressed arduous within the further half-hour, exhibiting indicators of fatigue but additionally flashes of attacking urgency. Nonetheless, their wrestle within the last third continued, as they didn’t convert stress into objectives.

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 expensive.

Rayon Sports activities, medical and composed, edged the shootout 4-3 to guide 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 yr, the journey is just not totally over. They’ll now regroup to struggle for the bronze medal towards 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 yr’s continental expertise underneath their belt, the staff will purpose to construct on the teachings discovered and return stronger.

Regardless of the frustration, Kampala Queens’ efficiency in Nairobi confirms their rising standing as certainly 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 vivid future.

As they flip their consideration again dwelling, the Kampala Queens carry not simply the ache of missed alternative but additionally the promise of potential but to be fulfilled.