Maldives U-15s win first-ever FIFA World Cup match

The Maldives under-15 football team has won a match at a FIFA World Cup for the first time, beating the British Virgin Islands 2-0 at the first FIFA U-15 World Cup & Festival in Baku, Azerbaijan.

The win was the team's last game of the tournament. The Maldives finished 159th of the 189 teams taking part, with four points.

From a 3-0 deficit to a first point

The Maldives were drawn in Group A of the qualifying stage with France, South Africa, Estonia, Kosovo and Anguilla. They lost 6-0 to France and 8-0 to South Africa, and 3-1 to Estonia.

Against Anguilla they came back from three goals down to draw 3-3. Ibrahim Iyas bin Hassan scored the country's first-ever goal at a FIFA World Cup, Yoosuf Laaiq Ibrahim added a second and Mika Mohamed Kaleem equalised. The draw gave the Maldives their first World Cup point.

Fifth place in the group sent the team to Tier E of the tournament stage, where the win over the British Virgin Islands followed. The squad is coached by Ahmed Shakir, an experienced youth coach.

A new tournament for young players

The U-15 World Cup & Festival ran from 24 to 30 October in Baku. FIFA says 78 of the member associations taking part were playing at a FIFA World Cup competition for the first time. Teams were split into tiers after a qualifying stage, so every side kept playing until the end. Spain won the top tier, beating the Czech Republic 3-0 in the final.