Spain were crowned champions of the inaugural FIFA U-15 World Cup & Festival after defeating the Czech Republic 3-0 in the final on October 30, 2026, in Baku, Azerbaijan. The Spanish youngsters capped an impressive unbeaten campaign by lifting the historic trophy under the guidance of coach David Gordo. Tiago Polo opened the scoring in the first half before Bruno Fernández and Adrián Bielsa struck after the break to secure a comfortable victory and write Spain’s name into the competition’s history books. Rwanda finish 80th overall While Spain celebrated their historic triumph, Rwanda’s U-15 national team finished 80th out of 189 participating nations following a challenging campaign at the tournament. The young Amavubi wrapped up their participation on October 30 with a 2-0 defeat to Malawi in the classification match for 79th and 80th places. Malawi took control early, with Takutzwa Maluwe breaking the deadlock in the 13th minute before Lameck Kamanga doubled the lead from the penalty spot seven minutes later. Rwanda sought to mount a second-half comeback but were repeatedly frustrated by Malawi goalkeeper Prince Santos, who helped preserve his team’s clean sheet. Rwanda had been drawn in Group Y alongside Côte d’Ivoire, Albania, Mauritania, the Turks and Caicos Islands, and Vanuatu. Their campaign got off to a difficult start with a 5-0 defeat to Côte d’Ivoire. However, they responded emphatically, recording a 6-0 victory over Vanuatu. Samuel Shema, Elvis Byiringiro, Patrick Shema and Damascène Byukusenge were among the scorers, while Gad Uwihoreye netted twice. The Amavubi subsequently suffered a 4-0 loss to Albania but bounced back with consecutive victories over the Turks and Caicos Islands (4-1) and Mauritania (2-1). Those results saw Rwanda finish third in Group Y with nine points, securing qualification for Tier C, where teams competed for final positions between 65th and 96th. In the Tier C knockout phase, Rwanda played out a 2-2 draw against Vietnam before prevailing 4-2 in the penalty shootout to advance. However, their hopes of securing a higher overall position suffered a setback on October 28 when they narrowly lost 2-1 to Scotland. They then drew 1-1 with Nigeria but lost 4-2 on penalties before concluding their campaign with the defeat to Malawi, settling for 80th place overall. A historic tournament for youth football The 2026 FIFA U-15 World Cup & Festival marked the inaugural edition of the competition, bringing together 189 nations, including 78 countries making their FIFA World Cup debut at any level. The tournament was designed to prioritise youth development, participation and international exposure rather than focusing solely on elite competition. Each participating team was guaranteed at least nine matches, with games played in an eight-a-side format over 40 minutes. The competition featured an impressive 932 matches, producing a total of 4,505 goals, while 187 of the 189 participating nations recorded at least one victory. Spain will be remembered as the first-ever champions of the FIFA U-15 World Cup & Festival. For Rwanda, despite finishing 80th overall, the competition provided the young Amavubi with valuable international exposure, competitive experience and an opportunity to measure themselves against teams from across the world.
