Zambia's youngest national team on the road this week is also its newest. The Under-15 boys flew out of Kenneth Kaunda International Airport at 21:00 on Tuesday 20 October for the inaugural FIFA U-15 World Cup and Festival in Baku, Azerbaijan, ZamFoot reports. The tournament opens on Saturday 24 October; ZamFoot gives the closing date as 31 October and Africa Top Sports as 30 October.
Head coach Brian Kunsanama has named a squad of 13, and the clubs listed against the names tell their own story about where Zambian football finds its 14- and 15-year-olds. According to ZamFoot the goalkeepers are Abraham Bwalya of Munali Boys Secondary School and Patrick Mudenda of Billy Pro Sports; the defenders Moses Mushota of Barotse Crocs, Maybin Phiri of Mockved and Thomson Mwashilindji of Young Crocs; the midfielders Moses Munkombwe, also of Munali Boys, Adrian Kasanda of Mpelembe Secondary School, Jabulani Nyirenda of Arakan Secondary School, Peter Mwansa of Mahatma Gandhi and Chrispin Katoba of Kine Primary School; and the strikers Benson Bwalya of Tunduya Primary School, Samuel Musonda of Sporting Lusaka and Maksen Msimuko of Young Crocs.
A different kind of World Cup
Africa Top Sports reports that FIFA has given the new competition an eight-a-side format intended to develop young players through small-sided games, and that Zambia have been drawn in Group X alongside Comoros, Moldova, Montserrat, Tanzania and Uruguay. Neither report gives Zambia's individual fixture dates or explains how the entrants were selected. The squad held a week-long training camp in Lusaka and had been together for at least 14 days before departure, with some players having featured in a schools' tournament in Zimbabwe.
The team is ready, the boys have been pushing.
— Brian Kunsanama, Zambia Under-15 head coach, before the team's departure, as reported by Africa Top Sports on Wednesday 21 October
Mr Kunsanama was careful to describe the trip as development first. Africa Top Sports quotes him as saying it was "obviously" a developmental tournament in which he wanted to expose as many players as possible, while adding: "But we have to win because winning should be part of development." Neither report says how the squad will be followed from home or whether the matches will be broadcast in Zambia.
Sources: ZamFoot, “Zambia U15 squad departs for inaugural FIFA World Cup in Azerbaijan” (20 Oct 2026); Africa Top Sports, “FIFA U-15 WWC: Zambia will give their best in Azerbaijan - Kunsanama” (21 Oct 2026).