21 October 2026 – The South African U15 Men’s National Team jets out to Baku, Azerbaijan, tonight for the inaugural FIFA U15 World Cup and Festival, scheduled to run from 24 – 30 October 2026.
The matches will be held at the Hovsan Competition Complex in Baku. The tournament is a brainchild of FIFA with the main aim of showing their commitment to promoting youth football globally. The world football governing body does not view the competition as the normal knockout-style World Cup event, but rather a great way to maximize player development and match experience, hence it will be played in an 8v8 format with 20-minute halves.
Almost 1000 games will be played over six matchdays with 191 nations, split into 32 groups, taking part in this inaugural event where the group winners will qualify for a Tier A competition. There is no elimination and all teams will play to the end, meaning those who did not win the group will continue to compete for Tier brackets, (from Tier A to Tier F).
Some of the players in the SA U15 squad were part of the team that was on tour in Germany where they posted positive results, beating FC Augsburg (U16) and Arminia Bielefeld U16 2-0 and 5-0 respectively.
This was in preparation for the upcoming FIFA U15 World Cup and Festival where they have been drawn in Group A alongside Anguilla, Estonia, France, Kosovo and Maldives.
Head Coach Selekedi Mogale’s charges get into action on Saturday (24 October) where they face the Maldives at 09h00 (07h00 SA Time).
They will play two matches on Sunday (25 October) taking on Kosovo at 10h45 SA Time (12h45 Local time), and Anguilla at 17h30 SA Time (19h30 local time). The last two group stage fixtures will be on Monday (26 October) against Estonia at 09h30 SA Time (11h30 local time) as well as France at 16h15 SA Time (18h15 local time).
After a rest and cultural day, the teams will return to action for the placement and Tier Finals between 28-30 October.
With so many nations taking part, this is a way for FIFA to assist Member Associations to compete on the global stage.
While 2026 has been set aside for Boys, the first Girls’ tournament has been scheduled for 2027, and from 2028 both competitions will take place annually.
DRAW:
Group A:
- South Africa
- Maldives
- Kosovo
- Anguilla
- France
GROUP STAGE FIXTURES:
Saturday, 24 October 2026:
vs Maldives
09h00 (07h00 SA Time)
Sunday, 25 October 2026:
vs Kosovo
12h45 (10h45 SA Time)
vs Anguilla
19h30 (17h30 SA Time)
Monday, 26 October 2026:
vs Estonia
11h30 (09h30 SA Time)
vs France
18h15 (16h15 SA Time)
Source: Original report at SAFA.
