World championship age group 2026 : It is the start of the playoff

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The competition is becoming increasingly intense on Day 6 of the World Championships Age Group in Türkiye. The round-robin stage has now been completed in almost every category. Only the U19 women still have group-stage matches left to play.
For all the other categories, there is no longer any room for error. The knockout stage has begun, and the teams that performed well during the round-robin phase are now battling it out in the quarter-finals.

U24 W

The U24 women’s competition is in a slightly unusual situation, with nine teams taking part. As there is an odd number of teams, the sides that finished eighth and ninth had to face each other in the opening match of the day, in a play-off to determine which one would advance to the quarter-finals.

In a one-sided match that ended 7–0, Great Britain (8th) secured their place in the quarter-finals at the expense of the United States (9th). The British then immediately faced the round-robin winners and tournament favorites, New Zealand. They were unable to offer much resistance, as the New Zealanders were simply far too strong. New Zealand remain unbeaten in these World Championships and continue to impose their style of play match after match.

In the other quarter-final, fourth-placed Colombia eliminated fifth-placed South Africa, defeating them for the second time in the competition. It was a tense encounter from start to finish and undoubtedly one of the finest matches of this World Championship week. The Colombians lost their way slightly during the first half against a South African side that played with tremendous intensity. Colombia could easily have collapsed, but they somehow managed to force the match into extra time. In the closing moments, following a mistake by a South African player, Las Cafeteras scored the decisive goal. Colombia simply refused to give up. They displayed exceptional courage, determination and commitment throughout the entire match.

Türkiye (2nd) overcame Australia (7th) in an intense match. The Turkish players gained revenge in front of a passionate crowd at the Gebze swimming pool, whose enthusiastic support helped drive the home team forward.

However, it was France who produced the major surprise of Day 6 and shocked everyone in this category. With their backs against the wall yesterday and having finished only sixth in the round-robin standings, few people expected them to go far in the tournament. But there was a major upset in Gebze. France overturned fourth-placed Argentina and took their revenge after losing to them the previous day in a dull and uninspiring match. Today, however, the French players rose to the occasion. Argentina made a flying start and opened the scoring after just 40 seconds, but French pride quickly took over. France equalized before taking the lead a few minutes later. With France leading 2–1, the mood of the two teams changed completely. Argentina began to drop their heads and panic, while the French, backed by a large crowd that had come to support them during the knockout stage, gained the psychological advantage. France will now face host nation Türkiye in a highly anticipated semi-final. It is worth remembering that the French lost 2–0 to the Turkish team three days ago.

U19 M

The surprise team in these quarter-finals, China (8th), faced the favorites in this category: a strong and still-unbeaten New Zealand squad (1st). There was no suspense in this match, as the New Zealanders handed China a familiar heavy defeat, winning 10–0. Nevertheless, the Chinese team can be proud of its performances throughout these World Championships. This is the first Chinese junior national team in the country’s history to participate in an international competition of this scale.

Colombia (4th) faced Australia (5th). Before the match, the two teams appeared to be evenly matched. Their first round-robin encounter ended in a 1–1 draw, and they had both completed the group stage level on 15 points. However, knockout matches must produce a winner, and Colombia eventually proved stronger, securing a convincing 2–0 victory.

United States (7th) coach Lyndon Rive told us yesterday that his team had a chance of winning the tournament as long as they avoided making too many mistakes. Unfortunately, his players were unable to prove him right in this match. They were defeated by the host nation, with the round-robin standings ultimately proving accurate: Türkiye (2nd) were simply the stronger side. The Americans lost to Türkiye for the second time in the competition, with both defeats coming by the narrowest of margins, 2–1. Like New Zealand, Türkiye remain unbeaten for the time being.

France (3rd) played for a place in the semi-finals against Great Britain (6th). The French completed the job without any real difficulties, comfortably overcoming their neighbours 2–0.

The final match played in this category was not a quarter-final but a placement match between the bottom two teams from the round-robin stage. Poland (9th) and South Africa (10th) faced each other in an attempt to avoid finishing last. South Africa were the only team in the category that had not won a match. They restored some pride and gained revenge by securing an emphatic 5–1 victory.

U24 M

Australia (1st) made a strong start to the knockout stage by dominating Great Britain (8th). With an impressive 5–0 victory, the Australians extended their unbeaten run. They have now recorded ten consecutive wins and continue to strike fear into every other team in the category.

There was major disappointment for Türkiye (6th), who were eliminated by Colombia (3rd). The Colombians produced a clear and convincing 3–0 victory, demonstrating that they were simply the stronger team. Despite an electric atmosphere and the passionate support of the home crowd, Türkiye were unable to produce an upset, and the host nation’s journey in this category ended in the quarter-finals.

South Africa (4th), meanwhile, continued their campaign on Turkish soil by defeating Argentina (5th). The Argentinians had fought well throughout the competition, but South Africa proved to be a step too far.

However, the match that nobody wanted to miss was France (7th) against New Zealand (2nd). Most observers inside the Gebze swimming pool expected the French to be heavily defeated by the Oceanians, but the players proved them wrong. France produced an extraordinary display of pride and determination, matching the New Zealanders right until the very end of extra time—and even beyond. Under the competition rules, when two teams remain level after extra time, the match moves into sudden death. This means that the first team to score wins the match. A fired-up French team stood toe-to-toe with the Blacks and managed to take them all the way to sudden death. France had several opportunities to score the winning goal. Unfortunately, after spending several minutes pinned back near their own goal, they began committing fouls in an attempt to prevent New Zealand from scoring the decisive goal. Three French players were sent to the penalty bench, leaving France with only three players against six in the water, making their task almost impossible. Between exhaustion and being heavily outnumbered, France eventually gave way after more than 45 minutes of an epic battle. Les Bleus came extremely close to producing the upset of the World Championships.

U19 W

The U19 women have not yet entered the play-off stage. All the teams played their final two round-robin matches. As only seven teams entered the competition, there will be no quarter-finals in this category.

Colombia, who finished first, made sure of their position by winning both of their matches. They remain unbeaten, and no team has yet managed to seriously challenge them.
At the opposite end of the standings, South Africa and Australia continued their dreadful runs. Both teams have now played ten matches without recording a single victory. They will have one final chance to make amends tomorrow in their placement match against each other. This means that one of the two teams will inevitably claim its first victory of the World Championships. The winning team could even hope to finish higher than sixth place, as it will earn the right to face Great Britain in a match for fifth place.

The four qualifying teams will advance directly to the semi-finals.The teams finishing between fifth and seventh will play only placement matches, while those ranked from first to fourth will move directly into the final four.
The four nations that will compete in the semi-finals are therefore Colombia, New Zealand, Türkiye and France. Colombia will face Türkiye, with the Turkish team hoping to gain revenge. In the other semi-final, France will take on New Zealand.

( Article written by Théo Harignordoquy )