African teams endured a mixed afternoon at the FIFA U15 World Cup and Festival in Azerbaijan, with Morocco, Algeria and Cote d’Ivoire seeing their hopes of winning their respective divisions weakened.

Cameroon, Senegal, Tunisia, Benin and the Democratic Republic of the Congo all progressed to the quarter-finals, while Guinea also moved through after winning an all-African tie against Egypt.

The tournament’s final phase is being held at the Hovsan sports complex near Baku. Teams are divided into separate divisions according to their performances earlier in the competition, with knockout matches now under way.

A defeat does not end a team’s participation, however, as losing sides continue with classification fixtures.

Morocco were beaten 1-0 by Paraguay in the last 16 of Division A. The result ended the Lionceaux de l’Atlas’ challenge for the division title after a promising start, although they will remain involved in the classification matches.

Guinea kept their own campaign alive with a 4-2 victory over Egypt in an all-African contest and will play in the Division A quarter-finals. Ghana are the other African side still competing for the title in that division.

Algeria suffered another setback after their elimination by Guinea on penalties in the last 16 earlier on Wednesday. Karim Ziani’s side were then heavily beaten 4-1 by Albania in a classification match.

Cameroon, by contrast, claimed a 2-1 victory over Cyprus in a Division A honour match.

Senegal and Benin progress

Senegal produced one of the day’s biggest wins in Division B, thrashing Costa Rica 6-1. Abdoulaye Diallo scored a hat-trick, Pierre Fleury Mbengue added two goals and Georges Kanfom completed the scoring.

The Lionceaux will meet Madagascar in the quarter-finals after Madagascar defeated Uzbekistan 4-1.

Cote d’Ivoire’s progress was halted by a 2-1 defeat against Argentina. The result ended an impressive attacking run for the Elephanteaux, who had previously beaten Rwanda 5-0 and the Turks and Caicos Islands 6-0. They will now continue in the classification matches.

Mali also lost, going down 4-2 to Slovakia, while Congo-Brazzaville were narrowly beaten 3-2 by China in a classification fixture.

In Division C, Tunisia overwhelmed Thailand 5-0 and will face France in Thursday’s quarter-final. Benin also advanced after winning a high-scoring West African contest against Nigeria 6-3.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo reached the last eight in Division D with a 2-0 victory over Oman. Lesotho eliminated Tahiti on penalties after a 3-3 draw, winning the shootout 5-4.

Togo suffered the opposite fate, losing to Jordan on penalties after the match finished 1-1. Jordan prevailed 4-2 in the shootout.

Although several African contenders have lost their division title hopes, a strong group of representatives remains in contention for the quarter-finals. The eliminated teams will continue competing in classification matches until the tournament concludes.