Africa’s hopes of winning the main division at the FIFA U15 World Cup ended on Thursday, with Ghana and Guinea both knocked out in the League A quarter-finals in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Ghana were beaten by Paraguay in a penalty shootout after a 2-2 draw, losing 7-6 on penalties. Guinea also exited after suffering a 2-1 defeat by Greece.

Morocco had already seen their hopes of winning the main competition ended on Wednesday, when they lost 1-0 to Paraguay in the last 16. The Lionceaux de l’Atlas suffered another setback in the classification match on Thursday, going down 3-0 to Mexico.

Algeria responded positively after their disappointing run of results. Following their last-16 elimination by Guinea on penalties and a subsequent 4-1 defeat by Albania, Karim Ziani’s side beat Estonia 2-1 in a classification fixture.

Cameroon endured a heavier defeat in the same phase, losing 9-2 to Russia.

Senegal and Zambia guarantee African finalist

The lower divisions provided more encouraging results for African teams, particularly in League B.

Senegal reached the semi-finals with a convincing 5-0 victory over Madagascar. The Lionceaux will face Zambia for a place in the final in the early afternoon. With both teams representing Africa, the continent is guaranteed to have a finalist in League B.

Tunisia also made a significant impression in League C, eliminating France 5-3 to book their place in the semi-finals.

In League D, the Democratic Republic of the Congo were knocked out in the quarter-finals after a 4-0 defeat by Somalia. That result sends Somalia through as Africa’s representative in the last four at that level.

The Central African Republic and Chad remain in contention for the League E title and will meet each other, while Gabon also continue their challenge in the same division. Ethiopia are still competing for the trophy in League F.

There were mixed results in League B classification matches involving other African sides. Cote d'Ivoire beat South Sudan 2-1, while Mali lost 2-0 to Niger.

Although Africa can no longer win the main FIFA U15 World Cup title, Senegal and Tunisia remain in contention to finish the tournament as champions in their respective divisions. The competition’s six winners will be confirmed after the final matches, which are scheduled to take place up to Friday 30 October.