Futsal World Cup 2028 Qualifying: France, Italy and Belgium Book Elite Round Places
France, Italy and Belgium all sealed their places in the elite round of European qualifying for the 2028 FIFA Futsal World Cup on Tuesday night, as seven November-window ties were played across the continent. The trio became the first teams to win their main-round groups, with the 12 group winners and the four best runners-up advancing to the elite round.
France and Italy complete perfect group campaigns
France completed a perfect group campaign with a 2-0 win away to Montenegro in Igalo. Abdesamad Mohamed opened the scoring in the 18th minute and Artur Čapče added the second in the 36th, and the win took France to nine points from three games in Group 2 — an unassailable lead with only a December trip to Moldova left to play.
Italy were equally faultless in Group 10, beating Kosovo 3-0 in Barletta to make it three wins from three. The Azzurri had already edged Kosovo 4-3 in Pristina on Friday, and the return win confirmed top spot with a game to spare.
Belgium needed a win in Slovenia to be sure of Group 11, and delivered it in style with a 6-2 victory away from home. The Red Devils had drawn 2-2 with Slovenia in the first meeting, so the emphatic return win settled the group on head-to-head — and confirmed Belgium as group winners with a game still to play.
Croatia, Ukraine and Finland also win
Elsewhere, Croatia took a big step towards the elite round with a 3-1 win away to Lithuania in Group 3, backing up Friday’s 3-2 home win over Germany. Ukraine also made it two wins from two in Group 9, edging Slovakia 2-1 in Bratislava after their 9-2 opening win over Estonia.
Finland bounced back from their opening defeat to Spain with a 6-1 thrashing of North Macedonia in Vantaa, keeping Group 4 wide open with Spain and Finland both on three points. Belarus also avenged their opening-day defeat, beating Kazakhstan 5-1 in Humenné to move top of Group 6 after losing 5-4 in the reverse fixture last month.
The November window closes on Wednesday night with the last two ties — Northern Ireland host Poland in Belfast at 19:00 local (19:00 GMT) and the Netherlands welcome Andorra at 19:30 local (18:30 GMT) — before the five-a-side game‘s road to 2028 resumes in December. Seven European teams will eventually reach the 2028 finals, which run from October 7 to 29, 2028, at a host venue still to be confirmed.
