Kenya and Egypt advance to African Nations final, book World Cup 2027 berths

Egypt and Kenya advanced to Friday’s gold medal showdown at the 2026 CAVB Women's Volleyball African Nations Championship in Nairobi to secure two of the three continental tickets to the 2027 FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Cup and stay on track towards grabbing Africa’s berth at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games women’s volleyball event.

Egypt have been on an immaculate six-game winning streak since the start of the African Nations Championship and are yet to drop a set in the Kenyan capital. In their Pool B, they shut out Burkina Faso, Senegal and Uganda.

In the knockout rounds, Egypt produced a 3-0 (25-7, 25-13, 25-5) eighthfinal win over Burundi, a 3-0 (25-20, 25-14, 25-9) quarterfinal win over Tunisia, and a 3-0 (25-5, 25-17, 32-30) semifinal win over Rwanda.

Hosts Kenya also cruised through the tournament undefeated so far. In Pool A, the only one with three teams, they swept their matches against Zambia and Mali in straight sets.

In the eighthfinals, the home team hammered out a 3-0 (25-21, 25-17, 25-15) victory over Nigeria. Kenya lost the only set of their campaign so far in the quarterfinals. They came back from behind to defeat Algeria by 3-1 (21-25, 25-7, 25-15, 25-18). In Thursday’s second semifinal, Malkia Strikers delivered a 3-0 (25-19, 25-20, 25-20) shutout of Cameroon to celebrate their passage to the final and to next year’s World Cup.

With only the two medal matches remaining to be played on Friday, the African Nations Championship standings beyond the fourth place have already been finalized. Tunisia, Algeria, Ghana, Uganda, Nigeria, Mali, DR Congo, Zambia, Senegal, Burundi and Burkina Faso, in that order, lined up in the places from fifth to 15^th.

Friday’s final day of action in Nairobi will serve off at 15:00 local time (12:00 UTC) with the bronze medal game between Cameroon and Rwanda, with the winner also qualifying for the 2027 World Cup.

The gold medal showdown between Kenya and Egypt is set to get underway at 18:00 (15:00), with the 2026 continental champions claiming an LA 2028 Olympic berth.

CAVB Women's Volleyball African Nations Championship: schedule and results

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