Chile's Under-15 national team lost 4-2 to Spain in its opening match at the FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) Under-15 World Cup and Festival, being played in Azerbaijan, according to BioBioChile. The match took place in the early hours of Saturday, Chile time.
Chile started strong. Aron Cornejo and Santiago Briceño scored to put La Roja two goals ahead, a lead the team could not hold. In the second half, the Spanish side responded and scored four times to take the win.
The outlet did not provide details on the tactical development of the match, the scorers of the European team's goals or the lineup fielded by the Chilean coaching staff.
The tournament was created by FIFA under the presidency of Gianni Infantino and departs from the format of traditional youth championships. Teams play eight-a-side, in two halves of 20 minutes, and the schedule adds up to around a thousand matches spread over just six match days.
The report itself contains a discrepancy in its figures. BioBioChile's headline refers to 191 participating national teams, while the body of the article mentions 80 teams.
Chile is in Group E alongside Spain, Kuwait, Barbados, Congo and Tajikistan. The format requires teams to play twice a day, so the squad will have little time to recover after the defeat.
Once the group stage ends, each team will move on to a second round based on the position it finished in. There it will face teams from other groups that finished in the same spot: group winners will play other group winners, runners-up will play other runners-up, and so on down the table.
La Roja returns to the pitch this Sunday with a double match day against Kuwait and Barbados. On Monday the 26th it will repeat the format against Congo and Tajikistan to close out its Group E campaign.
