Kenya's U15 boys beat Bulgaria 3-2 and Algeria 4-3 in Baku; Korea Republic next

Kenya's under-15 boys beat Bulgaria 3-2 at the FIFA U-15 Youth World Cup & Festival in Baku, Azerbaijan, on 29 October, with forward Lewis Wafula scoring twice and midfielder Silas Juma adding the third goal, FIFA's official match data shows.

The win came a day after two defeats on 28 October: 4-0 to Poland in the Tier A round of 32 and 4-1 to Bosnia and Herzegovina in the next round.

Kenya won Group Z unbeaten between 24 and 26 October, beating Malta 6-2, Panama 5-1 and Chad 3-2 and drawing 2-2 with North Macedonia and Niger.

FIFA says the event has "no knockout rounds" and that every team plays through to the final day. A three-day qualification stage leads into a three-day tournament stage across six tiers, and the champion is the Tier A winner. FIFA's fixtures list the Bulgaria game as a Tier A quarter-final and the Algeria game as a semi-final. Bulgaria's state news agency BTA and the Bulgarian sports site Dsport.bg reported on 28 October that the Bulgaria v Kenya match was part of the stream deciding places 25 to 32.

The Bulgaria match at the Hovsan Competition Complex kicked off at 07:30 UTC (10:30 in Nairobi). Bulgaria scored in the second minute. Wafula equalised in the 17th minute and put Kenya ahead in the 24th, early in the second half. Juma made it 3-1 in the 32nd minute, and Bulgaria scored again in the 38th. Games are eight-a-side, with two halves of 20 minutes.

Wafula wears the No. 11 shirt and Juma the No. 6, according to FIFA's squad list. Head coach Patrick Nyale named a 14-player squad, the Kenyan broadcaster TV47 reported on 21 October. The boys' event is open to players born in 2011 or 2012.

Bulgaria had won all four of their group matches. On 28 October they drew 1-1 with Ecuador and lost 3-2 on penalties, then lost 4-0 to Wales later the same day. Their coach is Petar Karachorov.

Kenya's first match on 28 October was against Poland at 10:30 UTC (13:30 in Nairobi). Poland scored in the third, 19th, 30th and 40th minutes. Poland then lost 5-3 to Colombia in the round of 16 later that day after leading 2-0, the Polish sports site WP SportoweFakty reported.

Kenya faced Bosnia and Herzegovina at 16:45 UTC (19:45 in Nairobi). Bosnia scored in the 23rd, 27th and 28th minutes. Midfielder Abdirahim Mohamed scored Kenya's goal in the 37th minute, and Bosnia added a fourth in the 39th.

FIFA said 189 of the 211 member associations it invited had confirmed they would take part in the first edition, which kicked off in Baku on 24 October.

Kenya then beat Algeria 4-3 in a Tier A semi-final at the Hovsan Competition Complex on 29 October, kicking off at 14:15 UTC (17:15 in Nairobi). Algeria scored in the third, 17th and 33rd minutes. Midfielder Innocent Media scored in the sixth, eighth and 38th minutes, and Wafula in the 25th.

FIFA's fixtures list Kenya's next match, against Korea Republic, as a Tier A final at the same venue, at 05:00 UTC (08:00 in Nairobi) on 30 October.