South Africa’s Under-15 boys went down 4-3 to Ivory Coast in a high-scoring semi-final for 41st to 44th place at the inaugural FIFA U15 World Cup and Festival in Baku on Thursday afternoon.

The Young Elephants edged the South Africans in a seven-goal thriller. Reatlegile Mosimane, Camden Schaper and Bohlale Finger were the goalscorers for the SA side. Mosimane is the son of Bafana Bafana coach Pitso Mosimane. The result means the team will now contest their final match of the tournament for 43rd place overall.

It has been a mixed tournament for coach Selekedi Mogale’s squad. After finishing second in their group behind Estonia, they continued in the Tier B section of the competition. In the group stages they recorded big wins over Maldives (8-0) and Anguilla (13-1), as well as an impressive 3-2 victory against France. They also drew 0-0 with Estonia and lost 2-1 to Kosovo.

In the knockout rounds of Tier B, South Africa beat Malaysia 6-2 to reach the last 16. They then lost 2-1 to Portugal on Wednesday after conceding a last-minute free-kick. Earlier on Thursday they bounced back with a strong 5-1 win over the United Arab Emirates before falling short against Ivory Coast.

The tournament, which involves all 211 FIFA member associations, uses an eight-a-side format on smaller pitches. Every team keeps playing until the end, with matches deciding final positions from first to last place. South Africa’s last game will be against the loser of the match between Niger and Uzbekistan.

Although the side fell short in the placement semi-final, the experience of competing against teams from different continents at a global event remains valuable for the young players. Many of them have shown good form and scored important goals throughout the competition in Azerbaijan. The final match will give them one more chance to finish on a positive note before heading home.

Source: https://x.com/iDiskiTimes/status/2115804597847531955