U15 World Cup: Algeria and Ivory Coast stay perfect as Senegal hit back

Algeria and Ivory Coast maintained their unbeaten starts at the U15 World Cup, while Senegal bounced back from their opening defeat with a 7-1 victory over Grenada. Cameroon, however, suffered a setback after losing 2-1 to India on the second day of the tournament in Azerbaijan.

The latest matches were played on Sunday at the Hovsan Sports Complex in Baku, where African teams continued to make a strong impression. Several sides have already scored more than 10 goals across their opening two matches.

Algeria followed up their 1-0 win over Argentina by defeating Suriname 5-0. Abdelkarim Meharzi scored twice, in the ninth minute and from the penalty spot in the 18th, while Mohamed Laieb, Youcef Anteur and Ayoub Zoubidi added further goals in the 14th, 23rd and 40th minutes respectively.

The result means the young Fennecs have won both of their matches without conceding.

Ivory Coast also recorded a second emphatic victory, beating Turks and Caicos Islands 6-0 after their 5-0 success against Rwanda on Saturday. Cheick Berte scored twice inside the opening six minutes, before Dramane Diarrassouba completed a hat-trick with goals in the 25th, 28th and 33rd minutes. Jadon Montilus also scored an own goal in the 31st minute.

Ivory Coast have now scored 11 goals and conceded none.

Senegal responded impressively to their 3-0 opening loss to Cameroon by overwhelming Grenada. Abdoulaye Diallo scored three times in the fifth, 13th and 24th minutes, while Georges Kanfom and Khadre Diop also found the net. Two own goals by Amahn Youssi completed the scoring.

Cameroon were unable to build on their victory over Senegal. Ndam Moctar put them ahead against India in the 20th minute, but an own goal from Fareil Ngobo and a strike by Lalremruatfela turned the game around.

Guinea produced one of the tournament’s biggest results, defeating American Samoa 17-0 after beating Canada 2-1 on Saturday. Seydouba Camara scored five goals, Nfamady Diabate struck six and Naby Sylla added a hat-trick.

Mali also made it two wins from two by beating Belarus 2-1, with Oumar Wague scoring in the 29th minute and Sidy Haidara adding the second in the 35th. They had opened with a 7-1 victory over Botswana.

Elsewhere, Benin defeated Cook Islands 10-0, Madagascar edged New Zealand 4-3, Ghana beat Myanmar 7-1, Cape Verde overcame Tonga 7-0 and Angola won 3-1 against Solomon Islands. Niger claimed a 1-0 victory over Malta, while Gabon lost 9-1 to Latvia and Togo were beaten 5-0 by Czech Republic.

Several teams, including DR Congo, were still due to play their second match later in the day.