Coach Fatawu Salifu has named a 14-player squad to represent Ghana at the 2026 FIFA U-15 World Cup and Festival in Azerbaijan, with the selected players emerging from the Elite U-15 Boys Inter-Regional Colts Championship held at the Ghanaman Soccer Centre of Excellence in Prampram.
The selection process followed the inter-regional championship, which brought together talented youngsters from colts and juvenile clubs across the country to represent their respective regions. The competition provided a platform for the technical team to assess the players before selecting the final squad, while also attracting the attention of lower-division clubs in Ghana, some of which recruited players who impressed with their performances and potential during the tournament.
The recruitment of some participants by lower-division clubs further underlines the championship’s importance as a talent identification platform, offering promising young footballers opportunities to progress beyond grassroots football.
For the selected 14 players, the FIFA U-15 World Cup and Festival represents another step in their development, providing an opportunity to showcase their abilities on the international stage.
The initiative forms part of FIFA’s Talent Development Scheme, which seeks to expand opportunities for young footballers to compete internationally, benchmark their progress against players from other countries and inspire the next generation of players, coaches and technical staff.
A total of 189 FIFA Member Associations will be represented at the 2026 FIFA U-15 World Cup and Festival, making it a major international platform for youth football development. The competition will adopt an innovative eight-a-side format, with matches played over two 20-minute halves.
Nearly 1,000 matches are scheduled to be played during the festival, with the tournament infrastructure designed to accommodate 20 fixtures simultaneously across multiple pitches. Each pitch will host up to 10 matches per day, creating opportunities for participating youngsters to gain valuable match experience within the competition’s compact schedule.
The tournament will run from October 24 to October 30, 2026, with Ghana drawn in Group W alongside Uzbekistan, Myanmar, Guam, the Bahamas and Kazakhstan. Coach Salifu’s side will open their campaign against Uzbekistan on Saturday, October 24, before facing Myanmar and Guam on Sunday, October 25. They will round off their group-stage fixtures against the Bahamas and Kazakhstan on Monday, October 26.
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