Photo by FIFA (FIFA)
BAKU, Azerbaijan — Almost 3,000 young players from across all six confederations gathered in Baku for the inaugural FIFA U-15 World Cup & Festival 2026, which brought together 189 teams.
The tournament produced 932 matches and 4,505 goals, an average of 4.83 goals per match. The highest-scoring match featured 21 goals.
Some 187 of the 189 participating teams won at least one match.
The finals across the tournament's different competition tiers reflected that reach. Canada reached a final as the one Concacaf team to do so, alongside four CAF teams (the Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Tunisia and Zambia), four UEFA teams (Belarus, Czechia, Portugal and Spain), two AFC teams (Bangladesh and Tajikistan) and one OFC team (New Zealand).
The event also served as a platform for FIFA's long-term player-development work, with 554 players from 52 FIFA Talent Academies represented.
Running the tournament was a major logistical operation. A total of 397 volunteers supported the event, and the Athletes' Village accommodated 3,780 players and staff members across 445 apartments. Catering served 114,560 hot meals across the tournament.
Teams travelled to Baku from around the world, with 5,103 pieces of baggage making the trip. The shortest journey was the flight from Tbilisi, Georgia, at one hour and 10 minutes, while the longest required 24 hours of travel from Nuku'alofa, Tonga.