FIFA Confirms Pakistan’s U-15 World Cup & Festival 2026 Schedule
Sports Correspondent: Imran Sohail
FIFA has announced the schedule for the U-15 World Cup & Festival 2026 in Azerbaijan, with Pakistan set to play all five of its qualification-stage matches over three days.
Pakistan has been drawn in Group AD alongside Gambia, Cyprus, Jordan, Nigeria and South Sudan.
The Pakistan U-15 team will begin its campaign against Gambia on October 24 before playing two matches each on October 25 and October 26.
Pakistan U-15 World Cup 2026 Match Schedule
| Date | Match | Time |
|---|---|---|
| October 24 | Pakistan vs Gambia | 3:30 p.m. |
| October 25 | Pakistan vs South Sudan | 1:45 p.m. |
| October 25 | Pakistan vs Cyprus | 8:30 p.m. |
| October 26 | Pakistan vs Jordan | 12:30 p.m. |
| October 26 | Pakistan vs Nigeria | 7:15 p.m. |
Pakistan will therefore complete its five group-stage fixtures within just three days, including two matches on each of October 25 and 26.
Tournament to Feature Over 3,000 Participants
The FIFA U-15 World Cup & Festival 2026 will feature young players born in 2011 or 2012.
More than 3,000 players, coaches and officials are expected to participate in the event.
Matches will be played on pitches measuring 68 metres by 47 metres, while standard full-size goals measuring 7.32 metres by 2.44 metres will be used.
How the Competition Will Work
The tournament will be divided into two main stages.
During the qualification stage, teams will be placed into groups based on sporting and regional considerations. Each team will play between four and five round-robin matches.
The results from this phase will determine where each team is placed in the tournament stage.
The second phase will consist of six performance tiers. Teams will be assigned to the tiers according to their qualification-stage results and will play another four to five matches.
Unlike a conventional knockout competition, every participating team will remain involved until the final matchday, giving all teams an extended competitive schedule.
Tier Winners to Be Crowned
A winner will be determined in each of the six performance tiers.
The team that finishes at the top of Tier A will be crowned the overall FIFA U-15 World Cup & Festival 2026 champion.
FIFA has also used a pre-tournament ranking system to help create balanced groups and competitive fixtures. The ranking process considers senior national-team performance along with recent youth-level participation and results.
Full Tournament Schedule
The qualification stage will be held from October 24 to October 26, followed by a rest day on October 27.
The tournament stage will run from October 28 to October 30, with the tier finals and closing ceremony scheduled for October 30.
Pakistan will therefore have a busy opening phase, with five qualification matches scheduled across the first three days of the competition.
