Botswana’s Under-15 side won four of 10 matches in Azerbaijan, recording a 40 percent win rate on their maiden global appearance
BONGANI MALUNGA
Botswana’s Young Zebras returned from the inaugural FIFA Under-15 World Cup and Festival in Azerbaijan with four victories from 10 matches, completing an historic first appearance on the FIFA World Cup stage.
The youthful Botswana side finished 123rd out of 189 participating nations, scoring 21 goals while conceding 32 during the week-long tournament in Baku. Their record of four wins and six defeats translated into a 40 percent win rate.
That return placed Botswana slightly behind several of Africa’s stronger performers but alongside some familiar regional rivals.
Zambia produced one of the continent’s outstanding campaigns, winning nine of their 10 matches for a 90 percent success rate, while Ghana won eight of 10 and eventually finished seventh overall. Senegal and Mali collected seven victories apiece, while South Africa, Namibia and Malawi each won five matches.
FOUR WINS
Botswana’s four wins matched Zimbabwe and Mozambique, while bettering the returns of regional neighbours Eswatini, who won three of 10, and Lesotho, who managed two victories from nine matches.The Young Zebras’ four victories came against Mongolia, Papua New Guinea, Myanmar and Tahiti, with Botswana saving their biggest win for the final day of competition.
Botswana signed off by hammering Tahiti 7-1 on October 30, their largest victory of the tournament. The result secured Botswana 123rd place, one position above Tahiti, who finished 124th. Botswana’s campaign had started on a difficult note when Mali handed them a heavy 7-1 defeat in their opening Group O fixture, but they responded by beating Mongolia 4-1.
Their second victory arrived against Papua New Guinea, whom they edged 2-1 during the preliminary phase. Papua New Guinea subsequently finished among the tournament’s lowest-ranked sides.
HEAVY DEFEAT
A heavy defeat against Belarus contributed to Botswana being placed in Tier D for the classification phase, where the team continued to experience contrasting fortunes. After defeats against Saudi Arabia and Tanzania, Botswana bounced back to edge Myanmar 4-3 in a seven-goal thriller, registering their third victory of the tournament.
They then lost 4-2 to Turkmenistan before producing their most emphatic performance against Tahiti in the final classification fixture. The final numbers therefore tell a mixed but significant story, 10 matches, four wins, six defeats, 21 goals scored and 32 conceded.
Botswana’s 40 percent winning rate fell short of Africa’s leading sides but the Young Zebras still matched Zimbabwe and Mozambique for victories and collected more wins than Eswatini and Lesotho.
The competition itself was unprecedented, FIFA brought together 189 associations and almost 3000 young players, with 187 of the participating teams managing at least one victory. A total of 932 matches produced 4505 goals.