South Africa's Under-15 Boys National Team staged a dramatic comeback to defeat France 3-2 in their final group stage match at the inaugural FIFA Under-15 Boys World Cup and Festival in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Monday.

The result saw the young South Africans climb to second place in Group A with 10 points, level with France but ahead on goal difference, and one point behind group winners Estonia who finished on 11 points.

In a pulsating encounter, South Africa surrendered a 2-0 lead when France were awarded two penalties to level matters. However, the South Africans showed tremendous character to regain their advantage with a goal just minutes before the final whistle to secure a memorable victory.

The win means South Africa will contest in Tier B against all the second-place finishers from the group stages in the Tournament phase of the competition, where they will play four to five matches with their final position determined through positional playoffs.

"The chances we created, we really worked hard for our goals and you could see even our arrogance on the ball keeping the ball, rotating the ball, even our structure you could see how dominant we were and we had done our homework on them and we felt like it was a good game and it's been a test of tactical discipline as well as our technical ability and also showing that we can play on the world stage," coach Mogale told SAFA Media.

The South African coach revealed his tactical approach had been meticulously planned, focusing on pressing France high and neutralizing their key playmaker.

South Africa's campaign has yielded three wins, one loss and one draw from five matches, though Mogale admitted regret over dropped points that cost them top spot in the group.

The tournament resumes on Wednesday after a rest day on Tuesday, with South Africa set to compete in the last 32 of Tier B, where matches level at fulltime will be decided by penalty shootouts rather than extra time.