The Futsal World Cup

As some of you may be aware this year there has been an event that has dominated headlines across the world. A event were only the very best athletes take part. It was not a big event but one then has taken much interest from around the world. People dream of playing at this event. I am of course talking about the Futsal World Cup which has recently taken place in Thailand.

It is the 7th time that the FIFA Futsal World Cup has taken place and like the normal World Cup it takes place every 4 years. Though it has always been largely dominated by two teams in particular. Brazil and Spain. This year it was no different. After both winning their groups and looking strong in their Round of 16, Quater Finals and Semi Finals it came down to a meeting of Brazil VS Spain.
Brazil took an early lead through player of the tournament Neto. But this was soon cancelled out by Spanish goals Torras and Alcardo. Spain were looking dominant before Brazil pulled a goal back through Falcao (Not the one that plays for Athletic Madrid) to make it all square. Now both teams were going for it with chances being made at both ends including a missed penalty from Brazil. However it was left to the impressive Neto to round off a Brazil comeback and end Spanish hopes of getting their hands on the Futsal World Cup.

Nevertheless the Futsal World Cup was a complete success yet again with countries such as Kuwait, Mexico, Morocco, Columbia, Panama and Serbia all competing for the first time. For those of you wondering where the likes of England, France, Geremany and Netherlands are they were simply not good enough to qualify for the World Cup.

But how far away are England from qualifying? Not a million miles away. England were knocked out in the qualification stadges. They were into a "Best runners up" group with France, Norway, Georgia and Albania. Unfortunately though England could only manage 3rd place in the group and were knocked out by goal difference. France and Norway both qualified from the group. Though England didn't get much media coverage during the qualifiers this was thought to be somewhat of a eye opener to the FA. As a result more funding is bring put into Futsal in the UK then ever before encouraging more people of all ages to get involved and to develop.

Back to the Futsal World Cup, Here are some stats from the Futsal World Cup:

By far the most prelific team at the tournament were Brazil notching up 45 goals in the 7 games in the tournament. The least prolific team in the tournament was Libya notching up a total 3 goals in 3 games. I would classify them definately as the whipping boys of their group. But it's the taking part that counts.

The player with the most goals throughout the tournament was Eder Lima of Russia who stroked in 9 goals in 5 matches for Russia which was enough to earn him the golden boot.

The team with the best discipline (fewest cards) in the tournament was Portugal who gathered a total of 11 yellow cards and 1 red. Credit goes to Spain who earnt themsleves 11 yellow cards. (The same amount Joey Barton got last season).

Spain had another claim to fame in this tournament by having the most carded player, Kike, who received 4 yellow cards in 7 matches.


Now your up to date with the biggest event in Futsal. That will be it for another 4 years at least. Make sure you keep a sharp eye out for the European championships in 2 years time.


Thanks for reading.
Chip