India U-15 beat Cuba 6-4 in Baku to finish 87th at FIFA U-15 World Cup & Festival 2026

India U-15 wrapped their campaign in Baku at the FIFA U-15 World Cup and Festival 2026 with a 6-4 victory over Cuba after ten games, finishing 87th among 189 teams in the competition.

Drawn in Group K and coached by Bibiano Fernandes, the Blue Colts entered the tournament unbeaten through the early matchweeks and were considered favourites to top the group and reach Tier A; their campaign featured a 4-2 opening win over Laos and a 2-1 victory over Cameroon.

India’s group run also included a 3-3 draw with Grenada—after leading 3-0 at one point—and a win against Bahrain, but a 6-1 defeat to Senegal in the final group match left the side third in Group K on 10 points, moving them into Tier C.

In Tier C, India began with a 2-1 loss to Honduras before responding with a 3-2 comeback win over Trinidad and Tobago in which Victor Lalawmpuia scored twice and Lalremruatfela added the other goal after India had fallen 2-0 behind.

A 2-1 defeat to Afghanistan followed, with Nibas Meetei Wahengbam on the scoresheet, and the Tier C semi-final against Kazakhstan finished 5-5 after Victor Lalawmpuia scored four goals; India were eliminated 5-4 in the subsequent penalty shootout.

India closed their Baku campaign with another high-scoring encounter, defeating Cuba 6-4 to secure the tournament’s 87th place after ten matches overall.

Across the tournament India found the net in every game, with attacking contributions from Victor Lalawmpuia, Lalremruatfela and Soumojit Sarkar cited as key positives against physically robust opponents, and the squad gained experience facing teams from the Americas, Africa and Europe during the festival.