Ntombifuthi Khumalo left devastated as South Africa Women's Under-17 miss out on World Cup

Bantwana bowed out of the qualifiers 5-1 on aggregate after suffering a 2-0 defeat in the first leg at Lucas Moripe Stadium a week earlier.

The second leg started with a moment of silence in honour of the late Bafana Bafana and Mamelodi Sundowns midfielder Jayden Adams.

South Africa travelled to Nairobi knowing they had a mountain to climb after failing to score at home. However, they made a perfect start and silenced the home crowd when captain Katlego Malebana opened the scoring in the fifth minute.

The early goal gave Bantwana hope of producing a remarkable comeback as they protected their slender lead for much of the encounter. However, Kenya turned the match around in the second half, with Gaudancia Maloba, Brenda Awour and substitute Elizabeth Opiyo finding the back of the net to secure victory for the hosts.

The result saw Kenya qualify for the Under-17 Women's World Cup for the second consecutive edition, leaving Bantwana coach Ntombifuthi Khumalo disappointed.

"Firstly, let me congratulate the Kenyans for their win. We lost the game in the first leg back at home and we knew it was not going to be easy coming here in front of such a big crowd," Khumalo was quoted as saying on the SAFA website.

"The journey has ended for us, but I must applaud our girls. They fought a good fight, but it is unfortunate that sometimes the results don't go your way.

"We have learnt our lessons, and now we have to look forward to the next projects because we still have players in this team who are 15 and 16 years old that can continue in this age group.

"It hurts that we were so close and yet so far, but we will go back home and regroup for the next edition."

Bantwana are expected to return home on Monday morning, while Kenya join hosts Morocco, Ghana, Nigeria and Zambia at the global showpiece.

The 24-team tournament is scheduled to take place from 17 October to 7 November.