A new milestone in Antigua and Barbuda’s youth football development began this Tuesday, as the nation’s under-15 national men’s football team set off for Baku, Azerbaijan, to compete in the first-ever FIFA U15 World Cup Festival.
The group, widely known to local fans as the young Benna Boys, received a heartfelt farewell ceremony at the Antigua and Barbuda Football Association (ABFA) Technical Center ahead of their international journey. Dozens of family members, close friends, and local football supporters gathered at the venue to share warm wishes and words of encouragement with the teenage athletes, who have spent months training for this global competition.
Dressed in their official national team kits, the young players posed for commemorative photos with their supporters, pausing to soak in the moment before boarding their outbound travel. For many of the teenagers, this tournament marks their first opportunity to compete on a global stage, representing their small island nation against talent from across the world.
In an official statement released following the send-off, the ABFA framed the departure as the opening of an exciting new chapter for the country’s youth football program. The association emphasized that every player carries the support of their loved ones and the entire Antigua and Barbuda football community as they head into competition.
Organized by global football governing body FIFA, the tournament is designed specifically to nurture emerging young talent across the world. This inaugural edition brings together youth squads from roughly 190 different national football associations, with group stage matches set to kick off on October 24 in the Azerbaijani capital.
Antigua and Barbuda has been placed in a diverse group that includes under-15 squads from Northern Ireland, Burkina Faso, Eritrea, Lebanon, and New Caledonia. In a break from traditional 11-a-side full-length matches, the U15 World Cup Festival will feature 8-a-side contests that run 40 minutes total, a format designed to give every participating squad multiple guaranteed match opportunities. This structure aligns with FIFA’s core goal for the event: to give young, developing players access to high-quality international competition that helps them grow their skills and build experience for future senior-level careers.
For the young Benna Boys, the tournament offers far more than just competition: it provides unprecedented international exposure that will allow the players to test their skills against top youth talent from different continents, gain experience competing in a high-stakes global setting, and build connections that can shape the future of their football journeys.