The inaugural festival delivered on its promise of giving young footballers from across the world an opportunity to compete and develop.

Bonface Osano, Marabou News Agency

Africa’s next generation of football talent made a strong statement on the global stage, with Guinea and Ghana breaking into the world’s top seven as Kenya capped an encouraging campaign at the inaugural FIFA U15 World Cup and Festival in Baku, Azerbaijan.

The week-long competition, brought together 189 national teams from October 24 to 30, introduced an innovative development model aimed at giving young players exposure to international football.

Played in an eight-a-side format, the tournament featured multiple performance tiers, ensuring teams continued competing until the final day rather than being eliminated after early defeats.

African teams accounted for 52 of the participating nations, according to FIFA, with several enjoying impressive campaigns.

Guinea emerged as Africa’s highest-placed representative, finishing sixth in the elite Tier A competition, while Ghana’s Black Comets secured seventh place after an impressive attacking display.

The Ghanaians scored 44 goals in ten matches, winning eight encounters. They concluded their campaign in style with a commanding 4-0 victory over Colombia, recovering from a heavy defeat to Brazil in the fifth-to-eighth-place classification matches.

Morocco and Egypt also made the top 15, finishing 13th and 14th respectively, while Cameroon placed 23rd.

Zambia provided one of Africa’s biggest highlights, defeating European heavyweights Portugal 5-2 in the Tier B final to claim the divisional title. The Central African Republic also celebrated silverware, beating Bangladesh 4-1 to win Tier E. Tunisia and Ethiopia were among the other African finalists.

Kenya’s young charges, meanwhile, finished 26th among the 189 participating nations, emerging as the highest-ranked team from the CECAFA region, with the team being treated to a grand reception upon their return.

The Patrick Nyale-coached side went unbeaten in the group stage, topping Group Z before progressing to the elite Tier A classification rounds.

Kenya recorded five victories, two draws and three defeats in ten matches, scoring 27 goals. Captain Innocent Media led the attack with nine goals, establishing himself as one of the team’s standout performers.

Despite losing their final classification match 3-1 to South Korea, the Kenyan youngsters return with valuable international experience and a strong foundation for future development.

Spain claimed the Tier A title, beating Czechia 3-0 in the final, as the inaugural festival delivered on its promise of giving young footballers from across the world an opportunity to compete and develop.

Marabou News Agency

Editor: George Mutero

The post African youngsters shine as Kenya finishes 26th at inaugural FIFA U15 festival appeared first on Sports Network Africa.

Both teams booked their spots in next year’s Africa regional final, where they’ll battle for a place in the 2028 ICC Men’s World Cup.

Edwin Kiplagat, Marabou News Agency

Hosts Nigeria secured a narrow one-run win over Uganda on Sunday to claim the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Africa Sub-Regional Qualifier C title in the country’s capital, Abuja.

Both teams had already booked their spots in next year’s Africa Regional Final, where they’ll battle for a place in the 2028 ICC Men’s World Cup.

The hosts won the toss and opted to bat first. They scored 148 runs all out in 19.4 overs. Isaac Danladi led the scoring for Nigeria, bagging 47 runs off 28 deliveries, while Ali Rahmon added 35 off 23 balls.

Uganda’s Joseph Baguma shone with the ball, taking 4 wickets for 21 runs in four overs, while Juma Miyagi picked up 2 for 17.

In response, Uganda fell just short, finishing on 147 for 9 in their 20 overs. Captain Riazat Ali Shah led the chase with a 36-ball 60, but Nigeria sealed the victory when Juma Miyagi was run out on the final ball.

“I think there’s a lot of learning in this game and there’s a lot of positives for us, especially the way we played our first four games and the way our bowlers bowled and the way our batters batted,” said Ugandan captain Riazat Ali Shah.

“I think the first and most important thing is to respect the game. When you’re in a position to win, win. When you’re in a position to fight, fight. Today we didn’t do enough of those things and I could say we deserved to be on the losing side,” Cricket Cranes assistant coach Jackson Ogwang said.

Nigeria finished at the top of the standings with an undefeated record of five wins from five matches, ending with 10 points, while the East Africans placed second with four wins and eight points.
Zambia finished third, with Mozambique, Lesotho, and Gambia rounding out fourth, fifth, and sixth places, respectively.

Uganda and Nigeria join Tanzania, Ghana, Rwanda, and Kenya to complete the six-team lineup for the Africa regional final, the next step in qualifying for the 2028 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.

Marabou News Agency

Editor: George Mutero

The post Nigeria beats Uganda to Africa T20 title appeared first on Sports Network Africa.

Organisers of the African Football Business Summit say African football is an economic opportunity waiting to be fully realised.

Oliver Ochieng, Marabou News Agency

Founder and president of The Football Foundation for Africa Brian Wesaala has urged African governments and football federations to create favourable policies for African broadcasters to broadcast African football.

Speaking during the recently concluded 5th African Football Business Summit (AFBS) in Accra, Ghana, Wesaala said the move will rekindle interest in domestic football leagues and transform passion into commercially successful competitions that generate greater revenue for Africa’s football ecosystem.

Organised under the theme of “From Vision to Value: Building a Sustainable Football Economy in Africa,” the summit focused on moving beyond conversations to partnerships, investment and tangible opportunities.

The Kenyan said it should be made very difficult for foreign football to be aired in Africa, adding that the broadcasting of African football will help drive its growth across the continent.

“Africa at the moment is struggling for an audience with primarily European football. You know, we are not watching our own football and these are things that as much as we want to, you know, challenge, it’s not easy because these were policy decisions that were made, that we find ourselves, all of our talents are showing, the Champions League, the EPL,” he said.

“Reversing that is going to be very difficult, but we need to at least reduce this consumption throughput. It should be very expensive, for example, for people to air foreign football in Africa and our broadcasters, our media should be, not really forced, but incentivised to televise more of our football, because that is what will drive revenue and that is what we can invest to make our football better, because the complaint has always been, oh, European football is better than African football in terms of quality. That is obvious, but for us to really start consuming African football, we need to start investing in Africa, so we must create policies that will incentivise, especially the media, to air more of Africa.”

Since 2022, the African Football Business Summit is convened annually by The Football Foundation for Africa, with a view of discussing the growth of African football: from talent development to infrastructural improvement.

Organisers say football is more than a game; it is an economic opportunity waiting to be fully realised.

Marabou News Agency

Editor: George Mutero

The post Make African football accessible to broadcasters appeared first on Sports Network Africa.