New Zealand have reached a Tier F final at the inaugural FIFA U-15 Boys’ World Cup in Azerbaijan after beating Nepal on penalties.
The New Zealanders drew 1-1 in their semi-final before winning the shootout 3-2 to set up a meeting with Ethiopia.
Their latest success follows a 2-1 quarter-final victory over Malta and a 3-0 win against the Cook Islands.
New Zealand have now won four matches, including their earlier 3-2 group victory over Somalia, after losing four of their five qualification games.
Their recovery has been part of a wider improvement by Oceania teams, who lost all their opening matches at the tournament.
Cook Islands thrashed São Tomé and Príncipe 4-0 in their quarter-final before losing 7-1 to Pakistan.
Papua New Guinea beat Cayman Islands 3-1 but subsequently lost 6-2 to Barbados.
Solomon Islands defeated American Samoa 6-0 and will next face Papua New Guinea.
Samoa lost a quarter-final shootout 6-5 to Ethiopia after a 1-1 draw, but bounced back to beat Vanuatu on penalties after drawing 2-2.
Fiji lost 2-1 to Nepal before suffering a 4-0 defeat against Malta. They will next meet Vanuatu.
Tonga recorded their first victory, beating Brunei Darussalam 4-3 after a series of heavy defeats.
American Samoa remain winless, losing 6-0 to Solomon Islands and St Lucia.
New Caledonia lost 5-2 to Nicaragua and 2-1 to Gibraltar in Tier C, while Tahiti beat Burkina Faso 2-1 before losing 5-1 to Mauritania in Tier D.
New Zealand’s next match against Ethiopia will be played at Crystal Hall in Baku, with other Oceania teams also scheduled for further classification matches.
How the tournament format works
The inaugural FIFA U-15 Boys’ World Cup and Festival in Azerbaijan uses a format designed to give young players more international experience, rather than eliminate teams after a few matches.
The 189 participating nations begin in qualification groups before moving into different competition tiers, based on their results. This allows teams of similar playing strength to compete against each other as the tournament progresses.
Though the later stages use familiar round-of-32, round-of-16 and quarter-final structures, defeats do not necessarily mean a team’s tournament is over.
The format provides more matches and development opportunities, with the emphasis on participation rather than simply determining a champion.
Games are played eight-a-side on smaller pitches, with 40-minute matches and rolling substitutions giving more players opportunities to gain international experience.
Main photo credit: Aziz Karimov – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images.
How to watch
FIFA+ is streaming many of the games on the DAZN platform. Follow the link below to find the games being covered by scrolling through the ‘live and coming up’ section and finding the pitch being used (see details below).
Fixture
Game to be played on Saturday October 31, 2026 (NZT)
Tier F final
New Zealand v Ethiopia
Crystal Ball, Baku, 3am (NZT)
This story was first published on October 30, 2026.