The South African U15 Boys National team pulled off a great upset when they defeated log leaders France 3-2 in a pulsating final group stages match in the inaugural FIFA U15 Boys World Cup and Festival in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Monday.

The result saw them climb up the Group A table and finish second, and they will contest in Tier B against all the second-place finishers in the Tournament phase of the competition.

South Africa gave up a 2-0 lead when the French were awarded two penalties to level matters. And when it almost seemed the clash was destined for a draw, South Africa regained their advantage with a goal just a few minutes before the final whistle. The South Africans finished on 10 points, one behind group winners Estonia, but level with France, with a better goal difference.

“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,” said SA coach Mogale.

Tuesday is rest day in the tournament with action returning on Wednesday. In this phase, the Tournament Stage, South Africa will play in Tier B, against the teams that finished second across all the groups where in the end winners will face the winners, and losing teams lock horns with other losing nations for final positions.

Each team will play four to five games in this round, and there will be no extra time. A penalty shootout will be used to determine winners in the matches that are level at fulltime.

South Africa U15 Group Stages Results:

South Africa 8 – 0 Maldives

South Africa 1 – 2 Kosovo

South Africa 13 – 1 Anguilla

Estonia 0 – 0 South Africa

France 2 – 3 South Africa