Tunisia, Zambia, the Central African Republic and Ethiopia will contest their respective finals at the FIFA U15 World Cup and Festival in Azerbaijan on Friday. Senegal were beaten in the semi-finals, while Morocco and Algeria recorded contrasting results in their Division A classification matches.

The inaugural global U15 tournament is reaching its conclusion in Baku, with the final matches to be played at Crystal Hall. Although no African team can now win the overall world title, which is contested in Division A, four sides from the continent remain in contention for divisional honours.

Tunisia have been one of the standout teams in Division C. After opening with a 5-0 victory over Thailand, the Young Eagles of Carthage produced another impressive result by beating France 5-3 in the quarter-finals.

They maintained that momentum with a 3-0 semi-final win against Luxembourg. Tunisia will face Belarus in the Division C final, giving them the chance to complete their campaign with a trophy.

Senegal’s hopes of reaching the Division B final ended in a thrilling 4-3 defeat by Zambia. The Young Lions of Teranga had previously impressed with wins over Costa Rica, beaten 6-1, and Madagascar, defeated 4-0, but were unable to overcome their fellow African side.

Zambia will now play Portugal for the Division B title. The Central African Republic also secured a place in a final in Division E after overcoming Chad on penalties and will meet Bangladesh.

Ethiopia make up the continent’s quartet of finalists. They reached the Division F final, where they will face New Zealand.

Mixed results for North African sides

Morocco recovered from two successive defeats with a 4-3 victory over Venezuela in a Division A classification match.

The result followed losses to Paraguay, who ended their hopes of winning the title, and Mexico. Morocco were beaten 0-1 by Paraguay before suffering a 0-3 defeat against Mexico, following an otherwise outstanding first round for the Atlas Lions.

Algeria experienced the opposite sequence of results. After a heavy 1-4 defeat by Albania, the team managed by Karim Ziani responded with a 2-1 win against Estonia before losing 3-4 to Kenya.

Cameroon also suffered another defeat, losing to Ireland on penalties after a 4-4 draw. Ireland prevailed 6-5 in the shootout.

In Division B, Cote d’Ivoire defeated South Africa 4-3 after previously beating South Sudan 2-1. Mali also returned to winning ways with a 5-1 victory over the United Arab Emirates, having earlier lost 0-2 to Niger.

In Division D, DR Congo recorded a convincing 4-1 win against Burundi. That came after a 0-4 defeat by Somalia.

Friday’s final round will give Tunisia, Zambia, the Central African Republic and Ethiopia the opportunity to end their tournament as divisional champions.