More than 3,000 young players and officials from 189 FIFA Member Associations have gathered in Baku, Azerbaijan, for the first FIFA U-15 World Cup & Festival. Around 1,000 matches are scheduled before the final at Baku Crystal Hall on 30 October.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino described the tournament at its opening as something that "truly unites the world", noting that while people often say football brings the world together, this marks the first time more than 3,000 players and officials from every part of the globe have gathered in one place like this.
Of the participating associations, 78 are appearing at a FIFA World Cup competition for the first time at any age level. John Gutierrez, President of the Philippine Football Federation, said this shows that the FIFA president "is very much considerate about the welfare of other nations, not just the top nations in the world, but also developing nations." He added that the leadership "cares about the smaller countries, the smaller markets that want to get to the level of the bigger markets".
For the 2027-2030 cycle, FIFA has proposed allocating USD 25 million to every Member Association, money that can go toward youth and women's football, infrastructure and long-term development projects.
Sonia Bien-Aime Fulford, president of the Turks and Caicos Islands Football Association, explained what that kind of support has already meant for her small nation. "We are a very small country, with about 50,000 people," she said. "Imagine our boys coming here to play against teams from countries they've only heard about, some they can't even pronounce the name of." She said the FIFA Forward programme has already delivered two full-size pitches, a beach soccer field, a futsal field and a new 27-room dormitory, with the association now planning to direct more of its funding toward women's and youth football.
Marlon Glean, President of the Grenada Football Association, linked the investment directly to the opportunities on show in Baku. "Since the president has been in office, he's invested heavily in areas where there's not much resources in the Caribbean, in Africa, in Asia, in Oceania," he said, pointing also to FIFA's accompanying Talent Development Scheme as evidence that "his thinking is very advanced".
Arsène Wenger, FIFA's Chief of Global Football Development, explained why the tournament format was designed the way it was. "We wanted it to be a reduced number, not 11 against 11, because the difference between the countries would be too big," he said. "We wanted shorter games, you know, (so) that everybody can meet everybody." He said smaller countries can "go home after, certainly full of dreams and of happy moments", while also learning what they need to work on. "When you say, 'Give every talent a chance', it's about opportunity," Wenger added. "Here they can come, play and discover that they have the needed quality to exist at the top level."
Hussein Mohamed, President of the Football Kenya Federation, called the event unprecedented. "For the first time in the history of football, we have never seen so many countries congregate in one place like we have seen in Azerbaijan," he said, describing it as "a testament to President Gianni Infantino's commitment to youth development programs". Infantino himself summed up the first edition simply as "exactly what we wanted".
From 2028, the tournament is set to take place every year, for both boys and girls.
