James Bogere says goals only count when they help the team win, a mindset he carries into his first senior Africa Cup of Nations tournament after being named in Uganda Cranes’ final squad for AFCON 2025 in Morocco.
The seventeen year old forward, fresh from a standout run with the Uganda Cubs, said personal milestones mean little without results, reflecting on his emotional reaction after scoring Uganda’s first ever goal at the FIFA Under 17 World Cup against Canada, a match the team lost.
“It would have been better if we won the game. Yes, I scored, but for me personally, it matters a lot when the team wins. I scored, but what matters most is winning.”
Bogere’s comments underline the mentality that has driven his rapid rise. He scored fourteen goals in fifteen matches at Under 17 level across the CECAFA qualifiers, the CAF Under 17 AFCON, international friendlies, and the World Cup in Qatar. He finished top scorer at the CECAFA qualifiers and played a decisive role at the continental finals, including a brace against The Gambia that sealed Uganda’s historic qualification for the World Cup.
At the global tournament, Bogere again made headlines, scoring against Canada and then netting the winner against France to send Uganda into the round of thirty two. Yet his focus, he insists, remains on collective success rather than individual praise.
His approach has impressed the senior national team technical staff. Head coach Paul Joseph Put, who first tracked Bogere during the Under 17 CECAFA qualifiers, has shown faith in the teenager by including him in the AFCON squad and starting him in a pre tournament friendly against AS FAR Rabat in Morocco.
“Bogere is a great talent and has got potential. I think he deserves a spot on the squad,” Put said.
Born in Jinja and developed through Masaka Sunshine FC and El Cambio Academy, Bogere now plays his club football with Denmark’s AGF Bold Football Club. As he steps onto Africa’s biggest stage with the Cranes, his words set the tone: goals matter, but only when they lead to wins.
