The Macedonian U15 national team participated in the World Championship in the 7+1 competition from October 24-30, held in Baku, Azerbaijan. The new FIFA U15 World Cup & Festival 2026 is an innovative FIFA project aimed at youth football. Each team may register 14 players born in 2011 or 2012, of which at least two must be goalkeepers. Matches are played with 7 field players + goalkeeper and they last 40 minutes (two halves of 20 minutes with a 5-minute break). The pitch measures 68 by 47 metres and uses full-size goals (7.32 by 2.44 metres). In this format, the game is more dynamic with unlimited (‘flying’) substitutions, kick-ins instead of throw-ins, offside applies only close to each goal, with offside lines 23 metres from the goal lines and each match is officiated by two referees, each responsible for one half of the pitch.
The competition is divided into a qualification stage and a tournament stage. In the qualification stage, teams are placed in groups that provide diverse sporting and regional representation and play a round-robin tournament where each team plays four to five matches. In the tournament stage, teams play a further four to five matches, determined by their results and their subsequent tier placement.
In the qualification stage, Macedonia was part of Group Z along with Panama, Chad, Kenya, Malta, and Niger. We finished the group in 4th place with two wins, one draw, and two losses, which placed us in Tier D for the tournament stage and the playoffs for positions 97-128. In this phase, Macedonia lost to Lithuania but recorded four wins against Mauritania, Bermuda, Lesotho, and Tanzania, which earned us 113th place in the final ranking.
The impression is that we could and should have done more, especially in the qualification stage which would have given us a chance for a higher placement. Still, this is a huge experience for these young guys who are facing this type of competition for the first time, and we hope that in the future this will motivate them to qualify for some elite competition by playing proper football according to the basic football rules.
A total of 189 teams participated in this experimental tournament, and the winner is Spain, who defeated Czechia 3:0 in the final.
Qualification stage, Group Z
Macedonia – 
Panama 4:1
Македонија У15 – Панама У15 4:1 (24.10.2026)
Chad – Macedonia 2:1
Чад У15 – Македонија У15 2:1 (25.10.2026)
Macedonia – 
Kenya 2:2
Мaкедонија У15 – Кенија У15 2:2 (25.10.2026)
Malta – Macedonia 1:3
Малта У15 – Македонија У15 1:3 (26.10.2026)
Macedonia – 
Niger 0:5
Македонија У15 – Нигер У15 0:5 (26.10.2026)
1. Kenya 5 3 2 0 18:9 11
2. Niger 5 3 1 1 11:6 10
3. Panama 5 3 0 2 10:11 9
4. Macedonia 5 2 1 2 10:11 7
5. Chad 5 1 1 3 7:10 4
6. Malta 5 0 1 4 4:13 1
Tournament stage, Tier D (97-128 place)
Macedonia – 
Lithuania 1:3
Македонија У15 – Литванија У15 1:3 (28.10.2026)
Macedonia – 
Mauritania 5:0
Македонија У15 – Мавританија У15 5:0 (28.10.2026)
Macedonia – 
Bermuda 5:0
Македонија У15 – Бермуда У15 5:0 (29.10.2026)
Lesotho – Macedonia 2:3
Лесото У15 – Македонија У15 2:3 (29.10.2026)
Tanzania – Macedonia 1:2
Танзанија У15 – Македонија У15 1:2 (30.10.2026)
At this tournament, under the guidance of coach Goran Stankovski, the following players represented Macedonia:
Mario Stojkovski – New Stars
Maksim Gjorevski – First Vienna 
Stefan Stojanoski – FFM Academy/Brera Strumica
Din Rozhajac – FFM Academy/Makedonija GјP
Stefan Arsov – AIK 
Hamza Zuberi – Skopje
Davor Taneski – FFM Academy/OSK Fair Play
Ejman Emini – FFM Academy/Fortuna
Joan Gjorgjievski – FFM Academy/SSK Nova
Jetmir Asani – Vardar
Dorotej Hristov – Skopje
Fisnik Amiti – Shkendija Tetovo
Jovan Janchevski – FFM Academy/Makedonija GјP
Dragan Petkov – New Stars
