satv Kathmandu, Oct. 31: Nepal finished 163rd overall at the FIFA U-15 World Cup & Festival 2026 after defeating Grenada 2–1 in the Tier F third-place play-off at the Hovsan Competition Complex in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Friday.
Nepal took an early lead with a seventh-minute strike and maintained a 1–0 advantage at half-time. Grenada equalised in the 22nd minute of the second half, but Nepal responded promptly, scoring the winning goal in the 36th minute to claim victory.
New Zealand won the Tier F title after defeating Ethiopia 2–1 in Friday's final.
Nepal missed out on a place in the final following a dramatic semi-final defeat to New Zealand.
After the match ended 1–1 in regulation time, New Zealand prevailed 3–2 in a penalty shootout.
Earlier in the knockout stage, Nepal reached the semi-finals by overcoming Fiji 2–1 in the Tier F quarter-finals.
The young side had previously advanced from the Round of 16 by edging Pakistan 4–3 on penalties following a goalless draw, with Pakistan missing their third and final attempt.
Nepal were placed in Tier F after finishing bottom of Group D during the group stage.
The team recorded one victory and five defeats, with their sole win coming in a 3–1 result against El Salvador in a group that also featured Brazil, Tunisia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Guinea-Bissau.
Nepal began its campaign with a 3-1 defeat against Tunisia before suffering another 3-1 loss to Guinea-Bissau.
After two consecutive defeats, Nepal bounced back with a 3-1 victory over El Salvador. However, the team failed to maintain its momentum, suffering a heavy 5-0 defeat against South American giants Brazil before ending the group stage with a 4-0 loss to DR Congo.
With one win and four defeats, Nepal finished sixth in Group D.
The inaugural festival has assembled over 3,000 young footballers and officials representing 189 FIFA member associations.
Organised by world football's governing body for the first time, the landmark event features an expanded global field.
The competition adopts an innovative eight-a-side format, with matches played in two 20-minute halves for a total duration of 40 minutes.
Under the tournament structure, teams initialised their campaigns in a round-robin qualification stage.
The results placed participating nations into six distinct performance tiers (Tier A through Tier F) for the final stage, ensuring that no side faced premature elimination and that each tier crowned an eventual champion.
