U15s make history with highest ranking ever for Gibraltar football

Gibraltar complete their journey through the inaugural FIFA U15 World Cup with a victory in their position-ranking final against Trinidad and Tobago. Gibraltar winning 2-1 this Friday morning.

Gibraltar's U15 World Cup squad made history this week, finishing in the top half of the inaugural FIFA U15 World Cup & Festival, held in Azerbaijan.

With 189 teams competing in what was a new format for a FIFA competition, played as an 8v8 tournament with two 20-minute halves, Gibraltar finished third in the initial group stage.

This saw Gibraltar placed in Tier C, the third tier of the competition.

The tournament followed a format in which all teams continued to play matches throughout the week, eventually reaching their respective finals to determine their final positions in the overall rankings.

In the second stage of the competition, Gibraltar lost their initial round of 32 encounter before progressing through the round of 16 and quarter-finals via the losers' pathway. Their victory in the semi-final of that pathway ensured they would not finish at the bottom of Tier C.

Gibraltar's U15s then faced Trinidad and Tobago in their final ranking match. Their opponents had faced France in the round of 32, with defeat sending them into the losers' pathway. They subsequently lost 3-2 against India, followed by a 4-1 defeat against Namibia, before beating Liberia 2-1 in their semi-final to set up the final against Gibraltar.

The tournament saw a total of 940 matches played throughout the week, with the main final due to feature Czechia against Spain later today.

A 2-1 victory over Trinidad and Tobago on the final day capped an impressive week for the young Gibraltar side, who had already enjoyed success earlier this season in the UEFA Development Tournament in San Marino.

Winning their final ranking play-off against Trinidad and Tobago meant Gibraltar finished the competition with three victories and two draws, although both drawn matches were subsequently lost in penalty shoot-outs.

Notably, Gibraltar's presence in Tier C brought them up against some tough opposition. The same tier included teams such as France, Hungary, Belarus, Scotland, Tunisia, Chile, Nigeria, Japan, Panama and Honduras.

It was a competitive mid-table tier in which even a single positive result for Gibraltar would have represented a significant achievement. Their performances throughout the competition, however, went considerably further.

With two victories and two draws before reaching the final, Gibraltar had already secured a finishing position above 96th place, the lowest position possible for teams qualifying into Tier C.

Winning their final match guaranteed a higher finishing position and what could represent the highest ranking ever achieved by a Gibraltar national football team at any level since the country's entry into FIFA.

That final position is yet to be officially confirmed, with FIFA still to publish the tournament's final rankings.