FIFA Futsal World Cup Uzbekistan 2024

[amenina]

Wouldn't NL system make more sense or a full groups of 6 format? Weeding them out after 3 games seems very un-UEFA like!

Futsal don't get the funding in many national associations (England players had to at times pay for their own travel), and many players are amateur. So playing NL style matches (without the benefit of TV money) is simply not possible.

You could play them in MT.

England didn't even enter WC 2024 and withdrew from Euro 2022. Disgrace from FA.

The FA cut all funding to the futsal national team due to COVID: https://www.thefa.com/news/2020/sep/24/ ... sal-240920

[Jackson Harrison]

Futsal don't get the funding in many national associations (England players had to at times pay for their own travel), and many players are amateur. So playing NL style matches (without the benefit of TV money) is simply not possible.

You could play them in MT.

England didn't even enter WC 2024 and withdrew from Euro 2022. Disgrace from FA.

The FA cut all funding to the futsal national team due to COVID: https://www.thefa.com/news/2020/sep/24/ ... sal-240920

They entered Euro U19 so hopefully will enter Euro 2026.

[amenina]

A summary of the qualifying schemes in confederation other than UEFA:

As mentioned above, AFC holds their Futsal Asian Cup, with 16 teams in the final tournament, every two years. The one that is held in the same year as the WC is used as their qualifying tournament. Since AFC usually gets 5 slots, there is a play-off among the losing quarter-finalists to decide the last slot, but since Uzbekistan is hosting the WC next year, and AFC only have slots other than the hosts, theoretically it may not be necessary (if Uzbekistan fail to reach the semi-finals).

CONMEBOL used to hold a separate WC qualifying competition at the beginning of the WC year, other from their continental championship Copa America de Futsal, which was held in odd-numbered years. However, they have decided to switch the Copa America to even-numbered years, and just use it as their WC qualifiers when it is held the same year as the WC, without holding another separate qualifying tournament. They have 4 slots so the semi-finalists should qualify.

The OFC holds their Futsal Nations Cup, sometimes frequently (every year), sometimes infrequently (COVID, lack of interest). The tournament held the year before WC is the qualifying competition, so the team which win the next edition this October will qualify as the only OFC representative in Uzbekistan next year. In the championships which are not used as WC qualifiers, sometimes they have invited teams outside of OFC.

CONCACAF have 4 slots, and their futsal championship is held only every 4 years and is used as the WC qualifiers, with the semi-finalists qualifying.

CAF is the same as CONCACAF. They only have 3 slots since their number of entries is very low (only 13 for 2021 WC), and interest in futsal is mostly regional, limited more or less to North Africa and a few Portuguese-speaking countries. They have a 8-team final tournament, so some teams (other than the host) don't even have to go through the two-legged play-off to qualify. The finalists and the winner of the third-place match qualify for WC.

[Tazmania]

Wouldn't NL system make more sense or a full groups of 6 format? Weeding them out after 3 games seems very un-UEFA like!

Futsal don't get the funding in many national associations (England players had to at times pay for their own travel), and many players are amateur. So playing NL style matches (without the benefit of TV money) is simply not possible.

You could play them in MT.

England didn't even enter WC 2024 and withdrew from Euro 2022. Disgrace from FA.

That is astonishing.

Thanks for all the feedback.

UEFA seems to be pushing Futsal more and more which is great. I wish FIFA would propose it to the IOC to become an Olympic discipline.

I watched some of the EURO is 2022 and it was very good. Surely there must be scope to develop it commercially?

[Tazmania]

A summary of the qualifying schemes in confederation other than UEFA:

As mentioned above, AFC holds their Futsal Asian Cup, with 16 teams in the final tournament, every two years. The one that is held in the same year as the WC is used as their qualifying tournament. Since AFC usually gets 5 slots, there is a play-off among the losing quarter-finalists to decide the last slot, but since Uzbekistan is hosting the WC next year, and AFC only have slots other than the hosts, theoretically it may not be necessary (if Uzbekistan fail to reach the semi-finals).

CONMEBOL used to hold a separate WC qualifying competition at the beginning of the WC year, other from their continental championship Copa America de Futsal, which was held in odd-numbered years. However, they have decided to switch the Copa America to even-numbered years, and just use it as their WC qualifiers when it is held the same year as the WC, without holding another separate qualifying tournament. They have 4 slots so the semi-finalists should qualify.

The OFC holds their Futsal Nations Cup, sometimes frequently (every year), sometimes infrequently (COVID, lack of interest). The tournament held the year before WC is the qualifying competition, so the team which win the next edition this October will qualify as the only OFC representative in Uzbekistan next year. In the championships which are not used as WC qualifiers, sometimes they have invited teams outside of OFC.

CONCACAF have 4 slots, and their futsal championship is held only every 4 years and is used as the WC qualifiers, with the semi-finalists qualifying.

CAF is the same as CONCACAF. They only have 3 slots since their number of entries is very low (only 13 for 2021 WC), and interest in futsal is mostly regional, limited more or less to North Africa and a few Portuguese-speaking countries. They have a 8-team final tournament, so some teams (other than the host) don't even have to go through the two-legged play-off to qualify. The finalists and the winner of the third-place match qualify for WC.

Thanks for the summary.

I am intrigued why in some parts of the world futsal seems to be less appealing than elsewhere; perhaps it is linked to available facilities to play.

I wonder whether - as with women's football at club level and most other sports - it is difficult to emerge from football's shadow.

[Jackson Harrison]

Futsal don't get the funding in many national associations (England players had to at times pay for their own travel), and many players are amateur. So playing NL style matches (without the benefit of TV money) is simply not possible.

You could play them in MT.

England didn't even enter WC 2024 and withdrew from Euro 2022. Disgrace from FA.

That is astonishing.

Thanks for all the feedback.

UEFA seems to be pushing Futsal more and more which is great. I wish FIFA would propose it to the IOC to become an Olympic discipline.

I watched some of the EURO is 2022 and it was very good. Surely there must be scope to develop it commercially?

They have it at youth Olympic Games.

Same here I don't get why our FA won't enter!

[amenina]

A summary of the qualifying schemes in confederation other than UEFA:

As mentioned above, AFC holds their Futsal Asian Cup, with 16 teams in the final tournament, every two years. The one that is held in the same year as the WC is used as their qualifying tournament. Since AFC usually gets 5 slots, there is a play-off among the losing quarter-finalists to decide the last slot, but since Uzbekistan is hosting the WC next year, and AFC only have slots other than the hosts, theoretically it may not be necessary (if Uzbekistan fail to reach the semi-finals).

CONMEBOL used to hold a separate WC qualifying competition at the beginning of the WC year, other from their continental championship Copa America de Futsal, which was held in odd-numbered years. However, they have decided to switch the Copa America to even-numbered years, and just use it as their WC qualifiers when it is held the same year as the WC, without holding another separate qualifying tournament. They have 4 slots so the semi-finalists should qualify.

The OFC holds their Futsal Nations Cup, sometimes frequently (every year), sometimes infrequently (COVID, lack of interest). The tournament held the year before WC is the qualifying competition, so the team which win the next edition this October will qualify as the only OFC representative in Uzbekistan next year. In the championships which are not used as WC qualifiers, sometimes they have invited teams outside of OFC.

CONCACAF have 4 slots, and their futsal championship is held only every 4 years and is used as the WC qualifiers, with the semi-finalists qualifying.

CAF is the same as CONCACAF. They only have 3 slots since their number of entries is very low (only 13 for 2021 WC), and interest in futsal is mostly regional, limited more or less to North Africa and a few Portuguese-speaking countries. They have a 8-team final tournament, so some teams (other than the host) don't even have to go through the two-legged play-off to qualify. The finalists and the winner of the third-place match qualify for WC.

Thanks for the summary.

I am intrigued why in some parts of the world futsal seems to be less appealing than elsewhere; perhaps it is linked to available facilities to play.

I wonder whether - as with women's football at club level and most other sports - it is difficult to emerge from football's shadow.

Futsal is very much a regional sport. For example, in the top ten of the UEFA Men's Futsal National Team Coefficients, apart from Spain and Portugal, the other eight are all ex-USSR or ex-Yugoslavia Eastern European countries: https://www.uefa.com/nationalassociatio ... gs/futsal/

The UEFA club tournament, Futsal Champions League, is also dominated by Spanish and Portuguese clubs, with Russian (before being banned) and Kazakh clubs enjoying some success: https://www.uefa.com/uefafutsalchampion ... b-records/

The 2023/24 season will start tomorrow with the preliminary round. A total of 55 teams from 51 associations entered the competitions. The only exceptions are Faroe Islands, Liechtenstein (both have no league), North Macedonia (not sure why since they entered previously) and Russia (banned). The four best-ranked eligible associations in the coefficient rankings above, Spain, Portugal, Kazakhstan and Croatia have two teams entered, but all of them are among the top 23 clubs with the highest coefficients so they have a bye to the main round: https://www.uefa.com/uefafutsalchampion ... wednesday/

[Jackson Harrison]

A summary of the qualifying schemes in confederation other than UEFA:

As mentioned above, AFC holds their Futsal Asian Cup, with 16 teams in the final tournament, every two years. The one that is held in the same year as the WC is used as their qualifying tournament. Since AFC usually gets 5 slots, there is a play-off among the losing quarter-finalists to decide the last slot, but since Uzbekistan is hosting the WC next year, and AFC only have slots other than the hosts, theoretically it may not be necessary (if Uzbekistan fail to reach the semi-finals).

CONMEBOL used to hold a separate WC qualifying competition at the beginning of the WC year, other from their continental championship Copa America de Futsal, which was held in odd-numbered years. However, they have decided to switch the Copa America to even-numbered years, and just use it as their WC qualifiers when it is held the same year as the WC, without holding another separate qualifying tournament. They have 4 slots so the semi-finalists should qualify.

The OFC holds their Futsal Nations Cup, sometimes frequently (every year), sometimes infrequently (COVID, lack of interest). The tournament held the year before WC is the qualifying competition, so the team which win the next edition this October will qualify as the only OFC representative in Uzbekistan next year. In the championships which are not used as WC qualifiers, sometimes they have invited teams outside of OFC.

CONCACAF have 4 slots, and their futsal championship is held only every 4 years and is used as the WC qualifiers, with the semi-finalists qualifying.

CAF is the same as CONCACAF. They only have 3 slots since their number of entries is very low (only 13 for 2021 WC), and interest in futsal is mostly regional, limited more or less to North Africa and a few Portuguese-speaking countries. They have a 8-team final tournament, so some teams (other than the host) don't even have to go through the two-legged play-off to qualify. The finalists and the winner of the third-place match qualify for WC.

Thanks for the summary.

I am intrigued why in some parts of the world futsal seems to be less appealing than elsewhere; perhaps it is linked to available facilities to play.

I wonder whether - as with women's football at club level and most other sports - it is difficult to emerge from football's shadow.

Futsal is very much a regional sport. For example, in the top ten of the UEFA Men's Futsal National Team Coefficients, apart from Spain and Portugal, the other eight are all ex-USSR or ex-Yugoslavia Eastern European countries: https://www.uefa.com/nationalassociatio ... gs/futsal/

The UEFA club tournament, Futsal Champions League, is also dominated by Spanish and Portuguese clubs, with Russian (before being banned) and Kazakh clubs enjoying some success: https://www.uefa.com/uefafutsalchampion ... b-records/

The 2023/24 season will start tomorrow with the preliminary round. A total of 55 teams from 51 associations entered the competitions. The only exceptions are Faroe Islands, Liechtenstein (both have no league), North Macedonia (not sure why since they entered previously) and Russia (banned). The four best-ranked eligible associations in the coefficient rankings above, Spain, Portugal, Kazakhstan and Croatia have two teams entered, but all of them are among the top 23 clubs with the highest coefficients so they have a bye to the main round: https://www.uefa.com/uefafutsalchampion ... wednesday/

So they use NT coefficient for club game? How is that fair?

[amenina]

Thanks for the summary.

I am intrigued why in some parts of the world futsal seems to be less appealing than elsewhere; perhaps it is linked to available facilities to play.

I wonder whether - as with women's football at club level and most other sports - it is difficult to emerge from football's shadow.

Futsal is very much a regional sport. For example, in the top ten of the UEFA Men's Futsal National Team Coefficients, apart from Spain and Portugal, the other eight are all ex-USSR or ex-Yugoslavia Eastern European countries: https://www.uefa.com/nationalassociatio ... gs/futsal/

The UEFA club tournament, Futsal Champions League, is also dominated by Spanish and Portuguese clubs, with Russian (before being banned) and Kazakh clubs enjoying some success: https://www.uefa.com/uefafutsalchampion ... b-records/

The 2023/24 season will start tomorrow with the preliminary round. A total of 55 teams from 51 associations entered the competitions. The only exceptions are Faroe Islands, Liechtenstein (both have no league), North Macedonia (not sure why since they entered previously) and Russia (banned). The four best-ranked eligible associations in the coefficient rankings above, Spain, Portugal, Kazakhstan and Croatia have two teams entered, but all of them are among the top 23 clubs with the highest coefficients so they have a bye to the main round: https://www.uefa.com/uefafutsalchampion ... wednesday/

So they use NT coefficient for club game? How is that fair?

A few seasons ago, when the competition was still called the UEFA Futsal Cup, each association could only enter one team, apart from that of the title holders, who could enter two teams (the title holders themselves and another team), so at that time there was no need for a country coefficient. The club coefficients of each team would be used to determine which teams received a bye to later rounds.

However, in 2017/18 UEFA expanded the tournament by adding three more teams, with three associations other than the associations of the title holders eligible to enter another team. And yes, it has always been determined by the national team coefficient rankings. For that season, the four associations which could enter two teams were Russia, Spain, Portugal and Italy. The next season, Italy dropped out and were replaced by Kazakhstan, until 2022/23, as due to the ban of Russia, they could not enter and Croatia could enter two teams last season and this season.

It was of course, not really fair. But during the years where the four associations were Spain, Portugal, Russia and Kazakhstan, at least it kind of matched because they both had the best four futsal national teams and the best four futsal leagues. However, it is really doubtful that Croatia are currently the 4th best futsal league. The last time one of their teams reach the last four was in 2001/02, and last season both their clubs finish 3rd in their 16-team elite round groups (so theoretically somewhere between 9th-12th in the final rankings).

[Jackson Harrison]

Futsal is very much a regional sport. For example, in the top ten of the UEFA Men's Futsal National Team Coefficients, apart from Spain and Portugal, the other eight are all ex-USSR or ex-Yugoslavia Eastern European countries: https://www.uefa.com/nationalassociatio ... gs/futsal/

The UEFA club tournament, Futsal Champions League, is also dominated by Spanish and Portuguese clubs, with Russian (before being banned) and Kazakh clubs enjoying some success: https://www.uefa.com/uefafutsalchampion ... b-records/

The 2023/24 season will start tomorrow with the preliminary round. A total of 55 teams from 51 associations entered the competitions. The only exceptions are Faroe Islands, Liechtenstein (both have no league), North Macedonia (not sure why since they entered previously) and Russia (banned). The four best-ranked eligible associations in the coefficient rankings above, Spain, Portugal, Kazakhstan and Croatia have two teams entered, but all of them are among the top 23 clubs with the highest coefficients so they have a bye to the main round: https://www.uefa.com/uefafutsalchampion ... wednesday/

So they use NT coefficient for club game? How is that fair?

A few seasons ago, when the competition was still called the UEFA Futsal Cup, each association could only enter one team, apart from that of the title holders, who could enter two teams (the title holders themselves and another team), so at that time there was no need for a country coefficient. The club coefficients of each team would be used to determine which teams received a bye to later rounds.

However, in 2017/18 UEFA expanded the tournament by adding three more teams, with three associations other than the associations of the title holders eligible to enter another team. And yes, it has always been determined by the national team coefficient rankings. For that season, the four associations which could enter two teams were Russia, Spain, Portugal and Italy. The next season, Italy dropped out and were replaced by Kazakhstan, until 2022/23, as due to the ban of Russia, they could not enter and Croatia could enter two teams last season and this season.

It was of course, not really fair. But during the years where the four associations were Spain, Portugal, Russia and Kazakhstan, at least it kind of matched because they both had the best four futsal national teams and the best four futsal leagues. However, it is really doubtful that Croatia are currently the 4th best futsal league. The last time one of their teams reach the last four was in 2001/02, and last season both their clubs finish 3rd in their 16-team elite round groups (so theoretically somewhere between 9th-12th in the final rankings).

Why can't they calculate Country Club Coefficients? it's not like it takes much work! I could do it on a spreadsheet, might have a go tomorrow actually!

[amenina]

Thailand recommended as host for the AFC Futsal Asian Cup™ 2024

https://www.the-afc.com/en/national/afc ... 024_1.html

[Jackson Harrison]

Thailand recommended as host for the AFC Futsal Asian Cup™ 2024

https://www.the-afc.com/en/national/afc ... 024_1.html

What happened to AFC Futsal Club Chmapionship?

[amenina]

Thailand recommended as host for the AFC Futsal Asian Cup™ 2024

https://www.the-afc.com/en/national/afc ... 024_1.html

What happened to AFC Futsal Club Chmapionship?

The other AFC futsal competitions, namely AFC Futsal Club Championship, AFC Women's Futsal Asian Cup, and AFC U-20 Futsal Asian Cup, have not been played since the start of the COVID pandemic, and currently none of them are scheduled to be played according to AFC's calendar. It remains to be seen when they will be held again.

[amenina]

New Zealand won the OFC Futsal Nations Cup at home, beating Tahiti 5-0 in the final, and are the first team (other the hosts Uzbekistan) to qualify for the World Cup. They will make their debut in the tournament, as previously the OFC have been represented by Australia (five times from 1989 to 2004), and after they left the OFC, by the Solomon Islands (four times from 2008 to 2021).

[rpo.castro]

UEFA "punished" Georgia and Armenia with 5-0 losses against Finland and Portugal (they have lost the matches anyway) for illegal use of player. Georgia used 9 Brazilian players, Armenia used 7 Brazilian and 2 russians players. Despite being given Georgian and Armenia citizenship they have never been or played for Armenian/Georgian clubs before the matches in question.