The comeback against England on Wednesday turned out to be a rehearsal. On Thursday 29 October Zambia's under-15 boys played two knockout matches in Baku and won both, ZamFoot reported: a 3–1 quarter-final win over Slovakia and then a 4–3 semi-final against Senegal in which they trailed three times. They will play Portugal in the Tier B final at the Crystal Hall on Friday 30 October, AfricaSoccer reported, one of four finals at the inaugural FIFA U-15 World Cup and Festival that will feature an African team.
The semi-final was the match of the tournament for Zambia. ZamFoot's account has Senegal ahead early from close range past goalkeeper Patrick Mudenda, and Kafue Celtic's Moses Munkombwe levelling three minutes later from a Samuel Musonda pass. Senegal went ahead again against the run of play; Maxen Msimuko equalised with a solo goal. In the second half Msimuko conceded a penalty, Senegal converted, and Zambia were behind for a third time at 3–2. Musonda, of Sporting Lusaka, then found Msimuko's run into the box for 3–3, Msimuko's 13th goal of the tournament, and Musonda himself scored the winner from a rebound off a Msimuko effort. Msimuko finished with two goals; Musonda with one goal and two assists. ZamFoot did not name the scorers against Slovakia.
The road to Friday
Zambia finished second in their group, behind the group winners who went into Tier A, after four wins in five matches, including a 13–0 defeat of Montserrat. In Tier B's round of 32 on Wednesday they beat England 3–2 after trailing 2–0, with Msimuko, Musonda and Chrispine Katoba scoring, and in the round of 16 the same day they beat Niger 2–0 through Benson Bwalya and Msimuko, according to a COSAFA round-up carried by AllAfrica. That makes six knockout goals for Msimuko across Wednesday and Thursday and 13 in all.
The tournament is unlike any the country's youth teams have played. It has 189 teams playing eight-a-side matches of 40 minutes; after the group stage the teams were sorted into six tiers, so that no team's tournament ended with a defeat. Only Tier A decides the world title. Tier B is the second rank, and Zambia's opponents in it have included England, Niger, Slovakia and Senegal. Portugal reached the final after knocking out South Africa 2–1 in the round of 16, the COSAFA round-up noted.
Africa's four finals
AfricaSoccer lists the four finals with African interest: Zambia against Portugal in Tier B, Tunisia against Belarus in Tier C, the Central African Republic against Bangladesh in Tier E and Ethiopia against New Zealand in Tier F. Madagascar, the other COSAFA side to reach the Tier B quarter-finals, were drawn against Senegal in that round, so Zambia's semi-final opponents had come through them. A kick-off time for the Tier B final was not given in the reports seen by this desk; the COSAFA round-up says the tier finals are at Baku's Crystal Hall on Friday 30 October. The result will be in Saturday's edition.
Sources: ZamFoot, “FIFA U15 World Cup: Zambia U15 beat Senegal in Semis in a 7 goal thriller” (29 Oct 2026); AfricaSoccer, “Tunisia lead Africa's four finalists at FIFA U15 World Cup and Festival” (30 Oct 2026); COSAFA via AllAfrica, “Zambia, Madagascar Shine As Cosafa Teams Battle for Honours At FIFA U15 World Cup” (29 Oct 2026).