Futsal World Cup 2028 Qualifying: France Hit Six, Kazakhstan Edge Nine-Goal Thriller
The first October window of European qualifying for the 2028 FIFA Futsal World Cup is in the books, and it delivered exactly what this stage is supposed to: a statement win, a nine-goal thriller, and a handful of groups that are already taking shape. France announced themselves with a 6-0 rout of Moldova, while Kazakhstan survived a 5-4 shootout with Belarus.
France run riot, Kazakhstan survive a classic
France’s trip to Chisinau on October 20 could hardly have gone better. Les Bleus ran out 6-0 winners, a perfect start to their Group 2 campaign and a result that leaves Moldova pointless after two games — Montenegro had already beaten them 6-1 a few days earlier.
The night’s real drama came in Group 6, where Kazakhstan edged Belarus 5-4 in a back-and-forth game that stayed alive until the final minutes. Kazakhstan, quarter-finalists at the last World Cup, took the three points, but Belarus showed enough to suggest the return fixture in November will be anything but straightforward.
Elsewhere, Hungary made it two wins from two in Group 1, following their 3-1 win over Sweden with a 3-2 victory in Armenia, while Germany opened their Group 3 account with a 4-2 win over Lithuania.
Draws keep Groups 8, 11 and 12 wide open
Not every group produced a winner. The Netherlands and Serbia shared six goals in a 3-3 draw in Group 8, Belgium and Slovenia drew 2-2 in Group 11, and Czechia and Latvia also finished 3-3 in Group 12.
Those draws matter. Serbia now sit top of Group 8 on four points, Belgium lead Group 11 on four, and Czechia head Group 12 on four — but with more fixtures still to come in each group, nobody is running away with anything yet.
Qualifying resumes in early November, with the next round of fixtures spread across November 5 to 11. For newcomers to the sport, futsal’s 40-minute, five-a-side format is what makes nights like these so chaotic — and the rules that keep the game moving at that pace are worth knowing before the next window kicks off.
