Argentina faces five games in 72 hours as the new Sub 15 World Cup begins

From the stands, everything looks like a football World Cup. It has flags, groups, fixtures and a champion waiting at the end. But on the pitch, the rules belong to another sport. The games last 40 minutes, the field is smaller and the roster has no room for a usual parade of names. The new FIFA Sub 15 World Cup opens on Saturday in Baku, and Argentina enters with a schedule that would make any senior team raise an eyebrow.

The Argentinian delegation arrived with 14 players under Adrian Gallara, who has led the AFA's youth divisions since 2017. The team is in Group B and starts against Algeria at 2.00, Argentine time. On Sunday it faces Chinese Taipei at 5.45 and Oman at 12.30. On Monday comes Suriname at 4.30 and Malawi at 11.15. Five matches in 72 hours: the calendar has no intention of being gentle.

A World Cup without the usual elimination pressure

There are 32 groups, identified from A to AF. Each team plays every rival in its group once, and nobody is eliminated at that stage. The group winners reach Level A, where the first world champion in this category will be decided. The other teams move into Levels B, C, D, E and F. Once the group phase ends, the knockout rounds begin, with the final positions still at stake.

This is the main difference from the traditional format. A defeat does not immediately end the journey, although it can alter the level and the route. For the teams, the tournament becomes a long sprint with different stages. For a coach, the challenge is to prepare not only for the next opponent, but also for the accumulation of matches and the uncertainty about the competition each group generates.

• 189 national teams participate in the first edition of the tournament.
• Each squad has 14 players, all born in 2011 or 2012.
• Eight players, including the goalkeeper, take the field in each match.
• The playing time consists of two 20-minute periods, with a five-minute break.
• The field measures 68 by 47 metres.

The rules also place the tournament in an unusual setting. FIFA approved the competition in December 2025 with the aim of expanding youth development globally. It is not just a smaller version of a senior World Cup: it is an experiment with fields, players and schedules designed to make the tournament possible in six days.

Seamos sinceros: the compressed calendar does not necessarily benefit the teams with the greatest experience. It rewards those that can recover quickly, manage fatigue and keep their concentration despite irregular kickoff times. A side can have technical quality, but if it arrives exhausted to its fifth match, the field will make that clear.

Argentina's next opponent is Algeria at the opening of the tournament. The next one is Chinese Taipei. The next stage will bring Oman, Suriname and Malawi, before the Argentine team returns to Baku, the stadium and the next page of this competition.