All You Need To Know About FIFA U-15 World Cup and Festival 2026
Historic FIFA U-15 World Cup & Festival 2026 to unite the world in Azerbaijan.
More than 3,000 players, coaches, and officials will descend on Baku over the coming weeks as Azerbaijan plays host to the inaugural edition of the FIFA U-15 World Cup & Festival.
In December 2025, the FIFA Council confirmed the tournament’s introduction. It was revealed that these new festival-style competitions for boys (2026), girls (2027) and both (2028 onwards) would be open to all 211 FIFA Member Associations, regardless of size or footballing tradition.
To align with the development needs of U-15 players, the matches would also be shorter in duration, played on smaller pitches, with teams comprising – for the 2026 edition at least – eight players.
The first FIFA U-15 World Cup & Festival 2026 matches will kick off on 24 October and the event will conclude with the finals on 30 October.
The custom-built Hovsan Competition Complex in Baku, Azerbaijan’s capital, will stage the majority of matches at the FIFA U-15 World Cup & Festival 2026, with the tier finals taking place at the city’s Crystal Hall. Azerbaijan was appointed host nation in June 2026.
A remarkable total of 189 FIFA Member Associations will be represented at the FIFA U-15 World Cup & Festival 2026.
The competition will feature an innovative 8v8 format with two 20-minute halves. Nearly 1,000 matches will be played, with tournament infrastructure enabling 20 simultaneous fixtures to be played across multiple pitches, each of which will stage up to 10 matches per day.
Tournament structure: Teams will first compete in groups that provide diverse sporting and regional representation. Results from the group stage will determine placement in the second tournament stage.
Qualification stage: Four to five matches in a round-robin format
Tournament stage: Four to five additional matches per team, determined by results and subsequent tier placement
Delegation size: 14 players and up to 6 staff members per team
Player eligibility: Players born in 2011 or 2012
Ranking: A simple pre-tournament ranking was used to support balanced group formation and appropriately competitive fixtures throughout the tournament, helping to provide the best possible development experience for players. It combines senior national-team performance with recent youth national-team participation and performance.
The second phase will consist of six performance tiers, based on qualification-stage results. Every team will continue playing through to the final matchday, ensuring a consistent and meaningful competitive experience for all participants. The winners of each tier will be crowned, and the team that come out on top in Tier A will be honoured as FIFA U-15 World Cup & Festival champions.
FIFA has implemented a match schedule designed to balance competitive intensity with player welfare. View the schedule in full on FIFA.com to see when and where the FIFA U-15 World Cup & Festival 2026 fixtures will take place.
The FIFA U-15 World Cup & Festival is intended to address a fundamental challenge in international football: providing meaningful competitive opportunities for nations in which qualifying for FIFA competitions remains an enormous challenge. The tournament enables every member association to experience international competition, benchmark itself against teams from around the world, and inspire the next generation of players, coaches, and technical staff.
Arsene Wenger, FIFA’s Chief Global Football Development, explained the logic as follows: “Talent exists everywhere, but young players do not always have the same opportunities to test themselves internationally. This tournament is about giving them that opportunity. By bringing teams from across the world together at U-15 level, we can give players meaningful matches, expose them to different styles and football cultures, and help them learn and develop through competition… Bringing young players together from different countries and cultures gives them an experience that goes beyond competition, while also encouraging Member Associations to continue investing in their development.” FIFA President Gianni Infantino has previously spoken of the FIFA U-15 World Cup & Festival being “fundamental in FIFA’s quest to give every talent a chance all over the world”, while providing “yet another example of how FIFA reinvests in the game”.
The second edition, in 2027, is set to feature girls’ teams, and from 2028 onwards it is planned that all Member Associations will be invited to participate with both their boys’ and girls’ U-15 teams in two separate competitions.
