Two African teams qualify for men’s semi-finals

University Chouaib Doukkali (MAR) remains unbeaten and will face Paulista University from Brazil in the first semi-final. By beating Kyungil University (KOR) 5-2, the University for Development Studies (GHA) got their ticket for the other semi-final where they will play Spain’s University of Granada.

On 24 September, the first two quarter-finals of the Dalian 2025 FISU University World Cup Football, scheduled at 15h30 in Dalian didn’t leave much suspense, as Paulista University from Brazil beat State University of Trade and Economics (UKR) 3-1 in a very colourful game, since the two opponents were wearing bright yellow and bright orange. The Ukrainians scored early in the game, but failed to find the net again.

In the other early quarter-final game, Augustine Frimpong, University for Development Studies’ number 20 scored a hat trick and his teammate Alhassan Zakaria (number 5) got the two other goals in Ghana’s victory over Republic of Korea’s Kyungil University.

Some men's quarter-final shots

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The two evening games were much tighter. The University of Granada (ESP) was losing 2-1 at half-time to Croatia’s University of Split, before the Spaniards managed to score twice in the second half, qualifying for the semis.

And yes, the University Chouaib Doukkali still remains unbeaten, but the Moroccans had to fight fiercely to remain in the race for the world title as the scoreboard showed 2-2 at the end of their quarter-final match against the University of Auckland (NZL), the Kiwis’s number 9, Ishveer Singh Dhillon scoring a very late equaliser at the 95th minute! The University Chouaib Doukkali ended up winning the penalty shootouts 4-3.

Next on the “menu”, women’s semi-finals on 25 September, with a Chinese derby between Shanghai University of Sport and Beijing Normal University on one side and a clash of FISU America between the Canadians from Laval University and the Brazilians from the University of the Extreme South Santa Catarina.

You can find the official schedule (CET + 6) as well as the results on the event’s official website and follow the matches live on FISU.tv (which is temporarily on YouTube).