Spain entered the competition as one of the favourites and left no doubt as to their quality on the pitch. In the final at the Baku Crystal Hall, La Roja secured an impressive 3-0 victory over Czechia, with Tiago Polo opening the scoring in the 12th minute with a spectacular long-range effort. Bruno Fernandez then doubled the lead in the 23rd minute before Adrian Bielsa added a third soon after, sealing a memorable win for head coach David Gordo and his side.
The victory was the culmination of a flawless campaign for the Spanish, who started the tournament with a 4-2 triumph over Chile and maintained a perfect record, winning all 10 of their matches in Azerbaijan, including a penalty shoot-out triumph over Wales in the Round of 32.
Remarkably, this represents Spain's third consecutive global title this year, following their victories at the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup. Indeed, this latest triumph underscores the success of Spain’s youth development system and their supremacy in international football at all age levels.
Global champions across Tiers
The pioneering structure of the FIFA U-15 World Cup and Festival was uniquely designed to maximise participation and competitive balance. Rather than utilising a traditional knockout format - where teams are progressively eliminated and sent home after a few days - the tournament was divided into six tiers. This ensured that every participating nation played multiple matches, gained critical international experience, and had a tangible chance to lift a trophy.
Spain’s triumph in Tier A was mirrored by celebrations across the other divisions, highlighting the festival's vast international reach. Zambia claimed the Tier B title, showcasing the rising strength of African football. Belarus took the honours in Tier C, while Tajikistan won Tier D. The Central African Republic secured victory in Tier E, and New Zealand emerged victorious as the champions of Tier F.
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FIFAThe emphasis on participation yielded hugely entertaining, high-scoring results on the pitch, too. Over the week-long festival, an astonishing 932 matches were played in total, producing a staggering 4,505 goals - an average of 4.83 goals per game. Furthermore, highlighting the tournament's overwhelming success in fostering global parity and giving every nation a moment in the spotlight, 187 of the 189 participating teams won at least one match.
Unique Special Awards decided by players
In keeping with the festival spirit, the tournament introduced a highly innovative approach to deciding the award winners. Unlike traditional competitions, where individual prizes such as the Golden Ball or Golden Boot take centre stage, the Special Awards in Baku were exclusively team-focused.
There were no individual honours and no standard fair play prize. Instead, the players themselves decided who deserved recognition, with teams voting for the sides that impressed them most with their distinctive identity, visible unity, and overwhelmingly positive energy.
Throughout the tournament, players accessed voting documents in the Athletes' Village, creating a genuine, peer-driven reflection of respect. Three distinct trophies were awarded to celebrate the very best of youth football culture:
- Distinctive Identity Award: Awarded to American Samoa, recognising their clear and consistent culture, values, playing style, and overall fantastic behaviour across both matches and festival activities.
- United by Football Award: Presented to Egypt in honour of their togetherness and positive energy, celebrating a deep unity that was visible both on the pitch through teamwork and in their collective demeanour off it.
- Positive Energy Award: Claimed by Eswatini, celebrating their relentless enthusiasm, resilience, and positivity through their body language, support from the bench, and incredible contributions to the festival atmosphere.
Reflecting on these peer-voted honours, FIFA President Gianni Infantino praised the young athletes for capturing the true spirit of the historic event. "Moments like these remind us why we must continue giving every talent a chance to shine," he noted on his official Instagram page, "showing once again that football is for everyone, everywhere."
Investing in the future of the game
The sheer scale and success of the FIFA U-15 World Cup and Festival is a direct result of FIFA's long-term commitment to grassroots development, heavily supported by the FIFA Forward programme.
By bringing together boys' teams from 189 Member Associations - 78 of whom had never previously featured on a global stage in any age category - the tournament proved that football can truly be a global equaliser when the right resources are applied.
Infantino highlighted the critical importance of this significant financial investment in youth. “What you see here with this U-15 tournament, what you see with the work we've been doing over the last 10 years in investing in football all over the world,” the FIFA President explained, pointing directly to the increased FIFA Forward funding.
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FIFA“When I became FIFA President 10 years ago, every Member Association was receiving USD 250,000 a year. One million over four years. The FIFA Council just decided that this amount should go up to USD 25 million. So, from one million to 25 million over a four-year cycle.”
He further emphasised that these resources are directly funding the next generation of talent and expanding the game's reach.
“Now, this money is being invested in these boys, in the girls, in youth football, in football development all over the world. It's not easy. Money doesn't come on its own. We have all to work very, very hard to generate these resources. But thanks to generating these resources, we can provide more opportunities to all these boys and the girls all over the world. And this is the reason why we continue working tirelessly for exactly this.”
As the inaugural festival concludes, the legacy it leaves behind in Baku is profound and lasting. The thousands of young players departing Azerbaijan carry with them not only improved technical skills and vital global experience but lifelong memories and friendships, proving once again that football genuinely unites the world.