UEFA Futsal Euro 2026 qualifying

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UEFA Futsal Euro 2026 qualifying
Tournament details
Dates9 April 2024 – 24 September 2025
Teams48 (from 1 confederation)
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The UEFA Futsal Euro 2026 qualifying competition will be a men's futsal competition that determines the 14 teams joining the automatically qualified co-hosts Latvia and Lithuania in the UEFA Futsal Euro 2026 final tournament,[1] which will be played on a four-year basis and featuring 16 teams.[2]

48 UEFA member national teams entered the competition. Apart from co-hosts Latvia and Lithuania, the remaining 46 teams entered the qualifying competition. The 34 teams with the highest futsal men's national-team coefficient ranking taken in December 2023 were given byes to the main round, while the remaining 12 teams entered in the preliminary round.[3]

Russia was banned from qualifying following the country's invasion of Ukraine.[4]

Format[edit]

The qualifying competition consists of three rounds:[3][5]

  • Preliminary round: The 12 teams that enter this round are drawn into three groups. Each group is played in a single round-robin format, with one of the teams selected as hosts before the draw. Each group winners and runners-up advance to the main round.
  • Main round: The 40 teams (34 teams with the highest coefficient ranking, and six teams from the preliminary round) are drawn into ten groups. Each group is played in a home-and-away round-robin format. The ten group winners qualify for the final tournament, while the eight best runners-up advance to the play-offs.
  • Play-offs: The eight teams are drawn into four ties, each tie will be played by home-and-away two-legged matches to determine the last four qualifiers.

Tiebreakers[edit]

In the preliminary round and main round, teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss), and if tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings (Regulations Articles 14.01, 14.02 and 17.01):[5]

  1. Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
  2. Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
  3. Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
  4. If more than two teams are tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams are still tied, all head-to-head criteria above are reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams;
  5. Goal difference in all group matches;
  6. Goals scored in all group matches;
  7. (Main round only) Away goals scored in all group matches;
  8. (Main round only) Wins in all group matches;
  9. (Main round only) Away wins in all group matches;
  10. Disciplinary points (red card = 3 points, yellow card = 1 point, expulsion for two yellow cards in one match = 3 points);
  11. UEFA coefficient ranking for the qualifying round or qualifying group stage draw;
  12. Penalty shoot-out if only two teams have the same number of points, and they met in the last round of the group and are tied after applying all criteria above (not used if more than two teams have the same number of points, or if their rankings are not relevant for qualification for the next stage);

To determine the eight best runners-up from the main round. The following criteria are applied (Regulations Article 16.01):[5]

  1. Points;
  2. Goal difference;
  3. Goals scored;
  4. Disciplinary points;
  5. UEFA coefficient ranking for the qualifying round or qualifying group stage draw;

In the play-offs, the team that scores more goals on aggregate over the two legs qualifies for the final tournament. If the aggregate score is level, the away goals rule is applied, i.e., the team that scores more goals away from home over the two legs advances. If away goals are also equal, extra time is played. The away goals rule is again applied after extra time, i.e., if there are goals scored during extra time and the aggregate score is still level, the visiting team advances by virtue of more away goals scored. If no goals are scored during extra time, the tie is decided by penalty shoot-out (Regulations Article 22.01).[5]

Schedule[edit]

The qualifying matches are played on dates that fall within the FIFA Futsal International Match Calendar.[5]

Schedule for UEFA Futsal Euro 2026 qualifying
Round Draw Dates
Preliminary round 25 January 2024 9 – 14 April 2024
Main round 12 July 2024
  • 9 – 18 December 2024,
  • 27 January – 5 February 2025,
  • 3 – 12 March 2025,
  • 7 – 16 April 2025
Play-offs 15 May 2025 15–24 September 2025

Entrants[edit]

The teams were ranked according to their coefficient ranking, calculated based on all FIFA and UEFA national senior men's futsal team matches played since the UEFA European qualifying competition for the 2021 FIFA Futsal World Cup.[5]

The 34 highest-ranked teams entered the main round, while the 12 lowest-ranked teams entered the preliminary round. The coefficient ranking was also used for seeding in the main round draw, where each team was assigned a seeding position according to their ranking.[6]

Final tournament hosts
Team Coeff.[6] Rank
 Latvia 1387.402 27
 Lithuania 1195.790 33
Participating teams for UEFA Futsal Euro 2026 qualifying
Teams entering main round
Team Coeff.[6] Rank
 Portugal 2715.953 1
 Spain 2495.409 3
 Kazakhstan 2418.002 4
 Ukraine 2056.591 5
 Croatia 1976.252 6
 Finland 1970.212 7
 France 1967.701 8
 Poland 1924.072 9
 Slovenia 1898.780 10
 Serbia 1884.558 11
 Italy 1873.140 12
 Netherlands 1862.329 13
 Czech Republic 1811.644 14
 Romania 1806.321 15
 Azerbaijan 1795.390 16
 Georgia 1761.015 17
 Slovakia 1664.887 18
 Hungary 1635.528 19
 Armenia 1626.853 20
 Bosnia and Herzegovina 1609.649 21
 Belarus 1521.865 22
 Moldova 1514.719 23
 Belgium 1504.554 24
 North Macedonia 1451.512 25
 Germany 1433.349 26
 Sweden 1327.701 28
 Montenegro 1306.735 29
 Kosovo 1264.444 30
 England 1204.183 31
 Denmark 1199.225 32
 Albania 1177.965 34
 Norway 1173.463 35
 Greece 1164.389 36
 Turkey 1131.406 37
Teams entering preliminary round
Team Coeff.[6] Rank
 Israel 1128.385 38
 Cyprus 1090.591 39
  Switzerland 1066.246 40
 Bulgaria 1031.006 41
 Andorra 916.855 43
 Malta 830.007 44
 Gibraltar 809.650 45
 Austria 794.108 46
 Estonia 787.508 47
 San Marino 762.906 48
 Scotland 755.050 49
 Northern Ireland 717.420 50
Did not enter
Team Coeff.[6] Rank
 Russia[4] 2547.159 2
 Wales 1011.432 42
 Iceland - NR
 Faroe Islands - NR
 Liechtenstein - NR
 Luxembourg - NR
 Republic of Ireland - NR
Notes
  • Teams marked in bold have qualified for the final tournament.
  • NR: No rank.

Preliminary round[edit]

Draw[edit]

The draw for the preliminary round took place at 14:00 CET, 25 January 2024. The seeding was based on the Elo-based futsal men's national-team coefficient ranking taken in December 2023. The 12 teams were drawn into 3 groups of four.[3]

The draw started with pot 1 and ended with pot 4, with each team selected then allocated into groups alphabetically. The pots for the draw are shown below.

Draw[3]
Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4
 San Marino
 Scotland
 Northern Ireland 		 Gibraltar
 Austria
 Estonia 		 Bulgaria
 Andorra
 Malta 		 Israel
 Cyprus
  Switzerland

Groups[edit]

The winners and runners-up of each group advance to the main round. The preliminary round was played 9 – 14 April 2024.

All matches within each group are hosted by one of the participating associations. The hosts are  Cyprus,  Austria, and   Switzerland. In the preliminary round, the schedule of each group is as follows:[5]

Day Schedule
Day 1 Arrival
Day 2 2 v 4, 3 v 1
Day 3 3 v 2, 1 v 4
Day 4 Rest day
Day 5 4 v 3, 1 v 2
Day 6 Departure

When establishing the match schedule, the host association is placed in position 1, and the visiting teams in positions 2, 3 and 4, according to their coefficient rankings.[5]

Group A[edit]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Cyprus (H) 3 2 1 0 7 5 +2 7[a] Main round
2  Andorra 3 2 1 0 7 5 +2 7[a]
3  Estonia 3 1 0 2 4 5 −1 3
4  Northern Ireland 3 0 0 3 5 8 −3 0
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(H) Hosts
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Tied on head-to-head, total goal difference, and total goals scored. Disciplinary points: Cyprus 4, Andorra 6.
Cyprus 2–1 Estonia
  • Savva Goal 34'00"
  • El Kebbe Goal 39'30"
 Report
  • Vnukov Goal 18'02"
Referee: Chiara Perona (Italy), Rastislav Behancin (Slovakia)
Andorra 3–2 Northern Ireland
  • Adrià Blat Goal 11'35"
  • Torres Domenjo Goal 29'52"
  • Rodríguez Goal 39'25"
 Report
  • Millar Goal 0'20"
  • Dobney Goal 37'46"
Referee: Viktor Bugenko (Moldova), Done Ristovski (North Macedonia)
Cyprus 3–2 Northern Ireland
  • Lakoufis Goal 4'16"
  • El Kebbe Goal 16'14"
  • Constantinides Goal 17'49"
 Report
  • Millar Goal 17'12"
  • Gunn Goal 29'53"
Referee: Done Ristovski (North Macedonia), Chiara Perona (Italy)
Estonia 1–2 Andorra
  • Vnukov Goal 27'51" (pen.)
 Report
  • Adrià Blat Goal 17'07"
  • Dos Santos Goal 39'40"
Referee: Rastislav Behancin (Slovakia), Viktor Bugenko (Moldova)
Andorra 2–2 Cyprus
  • Regalo Figueiredo Goal 33'55"
  • Debboun Goal 39'24"
 Report
  • Kouloumbris Goal 11'42"
  • Tsitsos Goal 24'46"
Referee: Chiara Perona (Italy), Done Ristovski (North Macedonia)
Northern Ireland 1–2 Estonia
Millar Goal 32'11" Report Vnukov Goal 0'14", 7'20"
Referee: Rastislav Behancin (Slovakia), Viktor Bugenko (Moldova)

Group B[edit]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Austria (H) 3 3 0 0 7 3 +4 9 Main round
2  Bulgaria 3 1 1 1 4 2 +2 4
3  Israel 3 0 2 1 3 4 −1 2
4  San Marino 3 0 1 2 3 8 −5 1
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(H) Hosts
Israel 1–1 San Marino
  • Adani Goal 29'02"
 Report
  • Busignani Goal 22'07"
Referee: Admir Zahovič (Slovenia), Darko Boskovic (Switzerland)
Austria 1–0 Bulgaria
  • Jatic Goal 26'48"
 Report
Referee: Miguel Castilho (Portugal), Mislav Džeko (Croatia)
Bulgaria 0–0 Israel
Report
Referee: Mislav Džeko (Croatia), Admir Zahovič (Slovenia)
Austria 3–1 San Marino
  • Jatic Goal 1'54"
  • Steinwandter Goal 15'32", 37'39"
 Report Moretti Goal 31'40"
Referee: Darko Boskovic (Switzerland), Miguel Castilho (Portugal)
San Marino 1–4 Bulgaria
Mattioli Goal 28'09" Report
  • Dimov Goal 5'26"
  • Asenov Goal 13'56"
  • Dobrichov Goal 18'51", 36'40"
Referee: Darko Boskovic (Switzerland), Mislav Džeko (Croatia)
Israel 2–3 Austria
  • Piven Goal 25'51"
  • T. Shkolnik Goal 39'25"
 Report
  • Skrgić Goal 1'42"
  • Meitz Goal 13'34"
  • Kreka Goal 38'22"
Referee: Miguel Castilho (Portugal), Admir Zahovič (Slovenia)

Group C[edit]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Malta 3 3 0 0 14 2 +12 9 Main round
2   Switzerland (H) 3 2 0 1 11 3 +8 6
3  Gibraltar 3 1 0 2 4 16 −12 3
4  Scotland 3 0 0 3 3 11 −8 0
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(H) Hosts


Malta 4–1 Scotland
  • Telisi Goal 2'28"
  • Sammut Goal 5'32"
  • C. Alves Goal 25'16"
  • Borg Goal 25'41" (pen.)
 Report
  • Lawless Goal 38'45"
Referee: Gábor Kovács (Hungary), Mariia Myslovska (Ukraine)
Switzerland 7–0 Gibraltar
  • Silverio Goal 6'47", 8'43"
  • Sammut Goal 5'32"
  • Marcoyannakis Goal 9'32", 15'05"
  • Gössi Goal 26'41"
  • Uebelhart Goal 37'47"
  • Barreira Goal 38.24'
 Report
Referee: Telmen Undrakh (Norway), Kamil Çetin (Turkey)
Gibraltar 0–8 Malta
Report
  • Zammit Goal 1'13", 22'30", 33'14"
  • Maikinho Goal 5'01", 33'55", 34'57"
  • C. Alves Goal 12'23"
  • Telisi Goal 20'26"
Referee: Kamil Çetin (Turkey), Gábor Kovács (Hungary)
Switzerland 3–1 Scotland
  • Lanzendorfer Goal 19'41"
  • Kägi Goal 20'16", 26'32"
 Report
  • Holness Goal 34'05"
Referee: Mariia Myslovska (Ukraine), Telmen Undrakh (Norway)
Scotland 1–4 Gibraltar
McLaren Goal 31'36" Report
  • Parker Goal 4'28"
  • Ruiz Goal 15'08", 22'40", 37'13"
Referee: Kamil Çetin (Turkey), Mariia Myslovska (Ukraine)
Malta 2–1  Switzerland
  • Telisi Goal 3'13"
  • Borg Goal 25'58"
 Report
  • Qerfoz Goal 31'21"
Referee: Gábor Kovács (Hungary), Telmen Undrakh (Norway)

Main round[edit]

Draw[edit]

The draw for the main round will take place on 30 May 2024. The seeding will be based on the new Elo-based futsal men's national-team coefficient ranking. The 40 teams will be drawn into 10 groups of four. Based on the decisions taken by the UEFA Emergency Panel, Serbia, Kosovo, and Bosnia and Herzegovina can not be drawn in the same group. Each team plays one home and one away match against each other team in its group.[3]

The ten group winners qualify for the UEFA Futsal EURO 2026, while the eight best runners-up qualify for the play-offs.[5]

The 34 teams entering directly in main round are:  Portugal (holders),  Spain,  Kazakhstan,  Ukraine,  France,  Finland,  Croatia,  Italy,  Poland,  Slovenia,  Azerbaijan,  Serbia,  Georgia,  Netherlands,  Romania,  Czech Republic,  Slovakia,  Hungary,  Bosnia and Herzegovina,  Armenia,  Belgium,  Belarus,  Moldova,  Germany,  North Macedonia,  Sweden,  Montenegro,  Kosovo,  England,  Denmark,  Albania,  Norway,  Greece, and  Turkey.[3]

The 6 teams advancing from the preliminary round are  Cyprus,  Andorra,   Switzerland,  Malta,  Austria, and  Bulgaria.[3][7]

In the main round, the schedule of each group is as follows:[5]

Main round schedule
Matchday Matches
Matchday 1 2 v 3, 4 v 1
Matchday 2 1 v 2, 3 v 4
Matchday 3 3 v 1, 2 v 4
Matchday 4 1 v 3, 4 v 2
Matchday 5 3 v 2, 1 v 4
Matchday 6 2 v 1, 4 v 3

Play-offs[edit]

Draw[edit]

The draw for the main round will take place on 15 May 2025. The eight teams are drawn into four ties, played over two legs, to decide the last four qualifiers.[3][5]

Qualified teams[edit]

The following 16 teams qualify for the final tournament.[3]

Team Qualified as Qualified on Previous appearances in Futsal Euro1
 Latvia Co-host 2 December 2023 0 (Debut)
 Lithuania Co-host 2 December 2023 0 (Debut)
10 teams Group winner 16 April 2025
4 teams Play-off winner 24 September 2025
1 Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Latvia and Lithuania selected to host Futsal EURO 2026". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 2 December 2023.
  2. ^ "UEFA to revamp and expand futsal competitions". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 4 April 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Futsal EURO 2026: format, calendar". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 2 December 2023.
  4. ^ a b "UEFA decisions for upcoming competitions relating to the ongoing suspension of Russian national teams and clubs". uefa.com. UEFA. 2 May 2022. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "UEFA Documents". documents.uefa.com. 1 October 2023. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  6. ^ a b c d e "UEFA Men's Futsal National Team Coefficients". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 21 April 2024.
  7. ^ "Futsal EURO 2026 preliminary round guide | Futsal EURO". UEFA.com. 11 April 2024. Retrieved 12 April 2024.

External links[edit]

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