How to watch India at the inaugural FIFA U-15 World Cup & Festival in Azerbaijan
India’s U-15 national team will compete in the inaugural FIFA U-15 World Cup & Festival in Baku, Azerbaijan, which begins on 24th October, 2026, with the Blue Colts among 189 nations taking part.
The tournament is an open event that allows all 211 FIFA member associations to enter and features 189 participating teams. Matches are scheduled in Baku at the newly built Hovsan Competition Complex and the city’s Crystal Hall, with nearly 1,000 fixtures planned and infrastructure that can stage 20 simultaneous games across multiple pitches, each hosting up to 10 matches per day. The competition uses an 8v8 format with two 20-minute halves.
The event is organised into 32 groups, with six teams in every group except three, and India has been drawn into Group K alongside Bahrain, Cameroon, Grenada, Laos and Senegal. After the group stage, teams will be sorted into six tiers to contest the remainder of the festival; the team finishing top of tier A will be declared the champion.
India will play all of their matches at the Hosavan Competition Complex in Baku. The Blue Colts open their campaign on 24th October against Laos on pitch 1A at 11:45 AM IST, then play two fixtures on 25th October on pitch 1B — against Cameroon at 10:30 AM IST and Grenada at 05:15 PM IST — before concluding their qualification-stage games on 26th October against Bahrain on pitch 9A at 02:15 PM IST and Senegal on pitch 8A at 09:00 PM IST.
On 20th October, India U-15 head coach Bibiano Fernandes named a 14-player squad for the tournament: Goalkeepers: Dhannya Desai, Jenit Ningthoujam. Defenders: Birjit Singh Amom, Muhammad Sohil Khan, Nara Meitei Loushambam, Pratham Kumar, Soumojit Sarkar. Midfielders: C Lalhmingropuia, Deepak Singh Arambam, Nibash Meetei Wahengbam, R Lalremruatfela, Victor Lalawmpuia. Forwards: Macdonnish Ngairangbam, Ronandev Aheibam.
All matches involving the Indian U-15 national team will be streamed live on FIFA+ via DAZN.com.
India’s qualification-stage programme runs from 24th to 26th October, beginning with the Laos fixture at 11:45 AM IST on 24th October; viewers can watch each Indian match live on FIFA+ on DAZN.com.