Guinea ended Algeria’s hopes of winning the U15 World Cup by prevailing in a penalty shootout, while Morocco, Senegal, Mali and Cote d’Ivoire all advanced at the tournament in Baku.

The first knockout matches produced mixed results for the African teams on Wednesday. Algeria had been among the competition’s most impressive sides during the group stage, but were unable to break down Guinea over the regulation 40 minutes. The match finished 0-0 before Guinea’s Syli U15 won the shootout.

Algeria had entered the knockout phase unbeaten and with a formidable record. The young Fennecs defeated Argentina 1-0, Suriname 5-0, Chinese Taipei 5-0 and Malawi 4-0, before drawing 3-3 with Oman.

Those results brought 18 goals and only three conceded, allowing Karim Ziani’s side to finish top of their group and reach Level A, the only section offering a route to the world title.

Their elimination was a frustrating outcome after such a dominant opening phase, but Algeria’s tournament is not over. Under the competition’s unusual World Cup-Festival format, they will now play classification matches, with the aim of finishing strongly and gaining experience from their first defeat.

Morocco continue perfect start

Morocco comfortably won the other all-African fixture in the main bracket, beating Cameroon 4-1 to maintain their outstanding run.

Karim Miftal’s team had won all five of their first-round matches and carried that form into the knockout stage. Their attacking efficiency again proved decisive in a tournament played eight-a-side, with matches consisting of two 20-minute halves.

Morocco remain in contention to win Level A and become the first champions of the experimental format introduced by FIFA. Cameroon, like Algeria, will now move into the matches used to determine the final standings.

In Level B, Senegal also produced a convincing display, defeating Georgia 4-1. Abdoulaye Diallo was central to the victory, scoring a hat-trick and providing an assist as the Lion Cubs followed up their strong group campaign.

Mali advanced with a 3-0 victory over El Salvador, while Cote d’Ivoire defeated Kyrgyzstan 4-0. The results kept both the young Eagles and the young Elephants in contention in their respective sections.

Tunisia recovered from a difficult finish to the group stage by beating Namibia 4-0. The Carthage Eagles had started with three wins but ended the first round with defeats by El Salvador and Brazil.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo also continued its late revival. After losing their opening three matches, the Leopards won twice at the end of the first round before overcoming Mauritius 4-1 to reach the last 16 of Level D.

All of the African teams will continue playing until the Festival concludes, although Algeria’s hopes of competing for the title ended earlier than expected after their impressive group-stage performance.