Haiti U-15 Falls 3-1 to Australia in FIFA World Cup Festival Opener
The young Grenadiers opened the inaugural FIFA U-15 World Cup Festival in Azerbaijan with a loss, as Aridou Benoît scored Haiti's lone goal.
Haiti's U-15 national team lost 3-1 to Australia's 'Socceroos' on Saturday, October 24, 2026, in their opening match of the first edition of the FIFA U-15 World Cup Festival in Azerbaijan, according to haitilibre.com. The match was played at the Hovsan Sports Complex in Baku. Cuban head coach Raúl Valentín González Triana's starting lineup included Prasseley Lamartinière (Exafoot) and Marvens Fénélon (SLG Académie). Australia dominated the match, but the young Grenadiers kept fighting, with Aridou Benoît scoring Haiti's only goal to narrow the gap. Per the source, Haiti's upcoming fixtures at the Hovsan complex include matches against Timor-Leste (8:45 a.m. Haiti time), Israel (3:30 p.m.), Andorra (7:30 a.m.), and host nation Azerbaijan (3:30 p.m.). The tournament uses a short, innovative format: matches last 40 minutes total, split into two 20-minute halves, played on a reduced pitch (roughly 68 by 47 meters) with normal-sized goals. Games are contested 8-against-8, with delegations limited to 14 players per country. FIFA rules apply identically across the group stage, classification matches and the final, according to haitilibre.com.