Morocco and Algeria maintained their perfect records at the U15 World Cup, while the Democratic Republic of the Congo suffered a third consecutive defeat in the group stage.
Morocco produced two convincing victories on Sunday in Hovsan, Azerbaijan, beating Costa Rica 4-2 before overwhelming Belize 6-0. Said Noufii and Adam Mimouni each scored twice across the two matches.
Those results followed Morocco’s opening 2-0 victory over the Philippines, giving Karim Meftal’s side three wins from three and sole possession of top spot in Group F. Morocco will next face Curacao and Liberia.
Algeria also recorded a third victory in as many matches. After beginning the tournament with a 1-0 win against Argentina, the Fennecs secured two further emphatic victories on Sunday, defeating Suriname 5-0 and Taiwan 5-0.
Abdelkarim Meharzi has been central to Algeria’s success. He scored twice in the first of Sunday’s matches and added four goals in the second, having also scored the only goal against Argentina.
That gives Meharzi seven goals in the tournament so far, accounting for nearly two-thirds of Algeria’s total. His form has helped the Fennecs lead Group B on goal difference ahead of Malawi.
Malawi will be Algeria’s penultimate opponent in the first round, before the group leaders complete their fixtures against Oman.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo, meanwhile, remain without a point after three matches. The Leopardeaux were beaten 3-1 by Tunisia and 3-0 by Brazil before losing 3-2 to El Salvador on Saturday.
They will conclude the group stage against Guinea-Bissau and Nepal as they seek their first points of the competition.
Elsewhere, Tunisia defeated Guinea-Bissau 6-4. Burkina Faso lost both of their matches, going down 2-1 to New Caledonia and 3-0 to Lebanon.
Togo were beaten 5-0 by the Czech Republic before responding with a 6-0 victory over the US Virgin Islands. Congo also suffered two defeats, losing 4-2 to Spain and 3-0 to Brazil.