Ghana’s National U-15 Boys team completed a flawless Group W campaign at the inaugural FIFA U-15 World Cup and Festival in Azerbaijan by edging Kazakhstan 2-1 in their final group match.
Goals from Angel Junior Adjei and Shamsudeen Sulemana secured the win. Ghana finished top of Group W with five victories from five matches, scoring 27 goals while conceding only three. The result came on Monday, October 26, 2026, completing a demanding schedule of five games across three days.
Full Group W Results
• Ghana 4–1 Uzbekistan
• Ghana 7–1 Myanmar
• Ghana 7–0 Guam
• Ghana 7–0 Bahamas
• Ghana 2–1 Kazakhstan
Total: 5 wins, 27 goals scored.
Match-by-Match Overview
vs Uzbekistan (4–1): Opening match on October 24. Abdul Aziz Issah and Jerry Owusu each scored a brace in a dominant display. Uzbekistan managed a late consolation.
vs Myanmar (7–1): October 25. Jerry Owusu and Abdul Aziz Issah continued their form; Nathaniel Owusu, Shamsudeen Sulemana, and Angel Junior Adjei (brace) also scored, plus an own goal. Myanmar replied once.
vs Guam (7–0): Later on October 25. Emmanuel Afful scored a brace. Abdul Latif Sa-ad, Raymond Agyapong, Nathaniel Owusu, and Abdul Aziz Issah were among the scorers in a clean-sheet rout. This took Ghana’s tally to 18 goals in three games.
vs Bahamas (7–0): October 26. Shamsudeen Sulemana scored a brace. Jerry Owusu, Joli Saelji, Abubakari Abdul Karim, Nathaniel Owusu, and Angel Junior Adjei also found the net, raising the team total to 25 goals.
vs Kazakhstan (2–1): Final group game. Adjei and Sulemana provided the decisive goals in a tighter contest that still delivered the perfect record.
Tournament Context
The FIFA U-15 World Cup and Festival 2026 (boys’ inaugural edition) is part of FIFA’s Talent Development Scheme. It features an innovative 8v8 format with two 20-minute halves on pitches measuring 68m × 47m (full-size goals). Nearly 1,000 matches are scheduled across six matchdays at the Hovsan Competition Complex in Baku, involving more than 3,000 players, coaches, and officials from 189 FIFA Member Associations. Players are eligible if born in 2011 or 2012.
Results from the group (qualification) stage determine placement into tiers for the second stage; the Tier A winner is crowned overall champion. A girls’ edition follows in 2027, with separate annual events planned from 2028.
Ghana, coached by Fatawu Salifu, fielded a squad drawn from the Elite U-15 Boys Inter-Regional Colts Championship and nationwide screening. The side showed consistent attacking depth, with multiple players contributing goals across the campaign notably Jerry Owusu, Abdul Aziz Issah, Angel Junior Adjei, Shamsudeen Sulemana, Emmanuel Afful, and Nathaniel Owusu.
Defensive solidity improved as the group progressed, producing consecutive clean sheets against Guam and Bahamas.
Having topped Group W with a perfect record and a +24 goal difference, Ghana now awaits the next phase of the tournament. The festival runs until October 30, 2026, with tier finals at Baku’s Crystal Hall.