MyZA

News, Directory, Events and Other Stuff

You are here: Home / News / SA U15 Boys jet out for inaugural FIFA U15 World Cup and Festival in Azerbaijan – South African Football Association

SA U15 Boys jet out for inaugural FIFA U15 World Cup and Festival in Azerbaijan – South African Football Association

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 post SA U15 Boys jet out for inaugural FIFA U15 World Cup and Festival in Azerbaijan appeared first on South African Football Association.

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:

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)

South African Football: Bafana Bafana’s last AFCON appearance was in 2019.

Category: , Tag: ,

If you feel strongly about this article then feel free to send MyZA a ‘Letter to the Editor’ using the submission form below:

Letter to the Editor

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
If this is in response to an article please include that article title here or as the lead in for the first paragraph of your Letter below.

Separate tags with commas

Localise your letter by naming the city your words are about. Add relevant words describing your subject. Single comma separated words of no more than 5
Your Name(Required)
Your Name will be linked to the website below.
Your personal, business or social media web site
Choose NO to not set up a user account on MyZA. User Accounts will allow you to submit letters under your own Author Name

3 Latest Letters to the Editor:

  • Don’t Ignore a SASSA Review Notice — It Is Not a Cancellation

    Dear Editor, I run SAGrant (sagrant.co.za), a free resource helping South Africans navigate SASSA grants. SASSA has reminded beneficiaries that a grant review is not a cancellation. A review simply checks whether a beneficiary still meets the qualifying requirements — it can be triggered by a change in income, employment, marital status, address, contact details…

  • SASSA’s Revised November Payment Dates – And What Beneficiaries Should Know

    Dear Editor, I run SAGrant (sagrant.co.za), a free resource helping South Africans navigate SASSA grants. SASSA has revised its November 2026 payment dates around the 4 November municipal elections: Older Persons grants will be paid on 30 October (Friday), Disability grants on 2 November (Monday), and Children’s grants on 3 November (Tuesday), with review-related grants…

  • Thoughts on Lotto Winner News

    Dear Editor This is fantastic news for the community of Gqeberha. It is always heartwarming to hear about such life-changing positive outcomes for everyday people. Congratulations to the lucky winner! Regards Buhle Ngcobo In Response to/From: R8.5 Million Lotto Winner Claims Prize in Gqeberha

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Swimming in South Africa Is a Sport of the Royal: Many athletes from royal backgrounds are known for their skills in swimming. For example, Charlene, the Princess of Monaco, was one of the Olympic swimmers in 2000. The country much appreciated her for taking up sports as her passion without abiding by the royal restrictions.

  2. The only cricketer to play Test cricket for India and England is Saif Ali Khan’s grandfather, Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi