The 2018 UEFA Futsal Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Futsal Euro 2018, was the 11th edition of the UEFA Futsal Championship, the international futsal championship organised by UEFA for the men's national teams of Europe. It was hosted for the first time in Slovenia, following a decision of the UEFA Executive Committee on 26 January 2015.[1] Slovenia was chosen ahead of other bids from Macedonia and Romania.

UEFA Futsal Euro 2018
Evropsko prvenstvo v futsalu 2018
Tournament details
Host countrySlovenia
CityLjubljana
Dates30 January – 10 February
Teams12 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)1 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions Portugal (1st title)
Runners-up Spain
Third place Russia
Fourth place Kazakhstan
Tournament statistics
Matches played20
Goals scored91 (4.55 per match)
Attendance101,934 (5,097 per match)
Top scorer(s)Portugal Ricardinho (7 goals)
Best player(s)Portugal Ricardinho
2016
2022

The final tournament was contested from 30 January to 10 February and comprised 12 teams, eleven of which joined the hosts Slovenia after overcoming a qualifying tournament. Matches took place at the Arena Stožice in Ljubljana. In their second appearance in the competition's final after 2010, Portugal defeated seven-time winners and defending champions Spain 3–2, after extra-time, to win their first European title.[2]

This was the last tournament to be held on a two-year basis and featuring 12 teams, as the competition will be played every four years, starting from 2022, and include 16 teams.[3]

Qualification

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A total of 48 UEFA nations entered the competition (including Germany and Kosovo which entered for the first time), and with the hosts Slovenia qualifying automatically, the other 47 teams competed in the qualifying competition to determine the remaining 11 spots in the final tournament.[4] The qualifying competition, which took place from January to September 2017, consisted of three rounds:[5]

  • Preliminary round: The 26 lowest-ranked teams were drawn into seven groups – five groups of four teams and two groups of three teams. Each group was played in single round-robin format at one of the pre-selected hosts. The seven group winners advanced to the main round.
  • Main round: The 28 teams (21 highest-ranked teams and seven preliminary round qualifiers) were drawn into seven groups of four teams. Each group was played in single round-robin format at one of the pre-selected hosts. The seven group winners qualified directly to the final tournament, while the seven runners-up and the best third-placed team advanced to the play-offs.
  • Play-offs: The eight teams were drawn into four ties to play home-and-away two-legged matches to determine the last four qualified teams.

Qualified teams

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The following 12 teams qualified for the final tournament.[6]

Team Method of qualification Appearance Last appearance Previous best performance
  Slovenia Hosts 6th 2016 Quarter-finals (2014)
  Italy Main round Group 1 winners 11th 2016 Champions (2003, 2014)
  Azerbaijan Main round Group 2 winners 5th 2016 Fourth place (2010)
  Ukraine Main round Group 3 winners 10th 2016 Runners-up (2001, 2003)
  Portugal Main round Group 4 winners 9th 2016 Runners-up (2010)
  Spain Main round Group 5 winners 11th 2016 Champions (1996, 2001, 2005, 2007, 2010, 2012, 2016)
  Kazakhstan Main round Group 6 winners 2nd 2016 Third place (2016)
  Russia Main round Group 7 winners 11th 2016 Champions (1999)
  France Play-off winners 1st Debut
  Poland Play-off winners 2nd 2001 Group stage (2001)
  Romania Play-off winners 4th 2014 Quarter-finals (2012, 2014)
  Serbia Play-off winners 6th 2016 Fourth place (2016)

Final draw

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The final draw was held on 29 September 2017, 12:00 CEST (UTC+2), at Ljubljana Castle in Ljubljana, Slovenia.[7][8] The 12 teams were drawn into four groups of three teams. Hosts Slovenia were assigned to position A1 in the draw, and the remaining teams were seeded according to their coefficient ranking, except that title holders Spain were automatically placed into Pot 1.[9]

Each group contained one team from Pot 1, one team from Pot 2, and one team from Pot 3. For political reasons, Russia and Ukraine could not be drawn in the same group or in groups scheduled to be played on the same day (due to a potential clash of teams and clash of fans). Therefore, if Russia were drawn in Group B, Ukraine had to be drawn in Group C or D, and if Russia were drawn in Group C or D, Ukraine had to be drawn in Group A or B.

Hosts + Pot 1
Team Coeff Rank
  Slovenia (hosts) 6.389 7
  Spain (holders) 10.017 2
  Russia 10.605 1
  Portugal 9.250 3
Pot 2
Team Coeff Rank
  Italy 8.889 4
  Ukraine 7.944 5
  Azerbaijan 7.544 6
  Kazakhstan 6.333 8
Pot 3
Team Coeff Rank
  Serbia 5.556 9
  Romania 4.278 12
  Poland 2.056 19
  France 1.278 23

Venues

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Ljubljana
Location of the 2018 UEFA Futsal Euro final tournament host city

All matches were played at the 12,480-capacity for futsal matches Arena Stožice in Ljubljana.[1]

Ljubljana
Arena Stožice
Capacity: 12,480
 

Match officials

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A total of 16 match officials were appointed for the final tournament.[6]

Squads

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Each national team have to submit a squad of 14 players, two of whom must be goalkeepers. If a player is injured or ill severely enough to prevent his participation in the tournament before his team's first match, he can be replaced by another player.[5]

Group stage

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The final tournament schedule was confirmed on 16 October 2017.[10]

The group winners and runners-up advance to the quarter-finals.

Tiebreakers

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 19.01 and 19.02):[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. 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);
  8. Disciplinary points (red card = 3 points, yellow card = 1 point, expulsion for two yellow cards in one match = 3 points);
  9. Drawing of lots.

All times are local, CET (UTC+1).[11]

Group A

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1   Slovenia (H) 2 1 1 0 4 3 +1 4 Knockout stage
2   Serbia 2 0 2 0 3 3 0 2
3   Italy 2 0 1 1 2 3 −1 1
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(H) Hosts
Slovenia  2–2  Serbia
Report
Attendance: 10,212[12]
Referee: Bogdan Sorescu (Romania), Eduardo Fernandes Coelho (Portugal)

Serbia  1–1  Italy
Report
Attendance: 3,527[12]
Referee: Marc Birkett (England), Kamil Çetin (Turkey)

Italy  1–2  Slovenia
Report
Attendance: 10,342[12]
Referee: Juan José Cordero Gallardo (Spain), Alejandro Martínez Flores (Spain)

Group B

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1   Kazakhstan 2 1 1 0 6 2 +4 4 Knockout stage
2   Russia 2 0 2 0 2 2 0 2
3   Poland 2 0 1 1 2 6 −4 1
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Russia  1–1  Poland
Report
Attendance: 3,192[12]
Referee: Timo Onatsu (Finland), Cédric Pelissier (France)

Poland  1–5  Kazakhstan
Report
Attendance: 1,930[12]
Referee: Alejandro Martínez Flores (Spain), Juan José Cordero Gallardo (Spain)

Kazakhstan  1–1  Russia
Report
Attendance: 7,018[12]
Referee: Gábor Kovács (Hungary), Balázs Farkas (Hungary)

Group C

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1   Portugal 2 2 0 0 9 4 +5 6 Knockout stage
2   Ukraine 2 1 0 1 6 7 −1 3
3   Romania 2 0 0 2 3 7 −4 0
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Portugal  4–1  Romania
Report
Attendance: 3,093[12]
Referee: Saša Tomić (Croatia), Ondřej Černý (Czech Republic)

Romania  2–3  Ukraine
Report
Attendance: 796[12]
Referee: Admir Zahovič (Slovenia), Vladimir Kadykov (Russia)

Ukraine  3–5  Portugal
Report
Attendance: 4,411[12]
Referee: Cédric Pelissier (France), Timo Onatsu (Finland)

Group D

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1   Spain 2 1 1 0 5 4 +1 4 Knockout stage
2   Azerbaijan 2 1 0 1 5 4 +1 3
3   France 2 0 1 1 7 9 −2 1
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Spain  4–4  France
Report
Attendance: 2,060[12]
Referee: Balázs Farkas (Hungary), Gábor Kovács (Hungary)

France  3–5  Azerbaijan
Report
Attendance: 912[12]
Referee: Angelo Galante (Italy), Alessandro Malfer (Italy)

Azerbaijan  0–1  Spain
Report
Attendance: 3,076[12]
Referee: Vladimir Kadykov (Russia), Admir Zahovič (Slovenia)

Knockout stage

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If a match is drawn after 40 minutes of regular play, an extra time consisting of two five-minute periods is played. If teams are still leveled after extra time, a penalty shoot-out is used to determine the winner. In the third place match, the extra time is skipped and the decision goes directly to kicks from the penalty mark (Regulations Articles 20.02 and 20.03).[5]

Bracket

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Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
 
          
 
5 February – Ljubljana
 
 
  Slovenia0
 
8 February – Ljubljana
 
  Russia2
 
  Russia2
 
6 February – Ljubljana
 
  Portugal3
 
  Portugal8
 
10 February – Ljubljana
 
  Azerbaijan1
 
  Portugal (a.e.t.)3
 
5 February – Ljubljana
 
  Spain2
 
  Serbia1
 
8 February – Ljubljana
 
  Kazakhstan3
 
  Kazakhstan5 (1)
 
6 February – Ljubljana
 
  Spain (p)5 (3) Third place
 
  Ukraine0
 
10 February – Ljubljana
 
  Spain1
 
  Russia1
 
 
  Kazakhstan0
 

Quarter-finals

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Serbia  1–3  Kazakhstan
Report
Attendance: 5,246[12]
Referee: Kamil Çetin (Turkey), Marc Birkett (England)

Slovenia  0–2  Russia
Report
Attendance: 10,369[12]
Referee: Eduardo Fernandes Coelho (Portugal), Bogdan Sorescu (Romania)

Portugal  8–1  Azerbaijan
Report
Attendance: 3,150[12]
Referee: Ondřej Černý (Czech Republic), Saša Tomić (Croatia)

Ukraine  0–1  Spain
Report
Attendance: 2,351[12]
Referee: Alessandro Malfer (Italy), Angelo Galante (Italy)

Semi-finals

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Russia  2–3  Portugal
Report
Attendance: 6,023[12]
Referee: Gábor Kovács (Hungary), Balázs Farkas (Hungary)

Kazakhstan  5–5 (a.e.t.)  Spain
Report
Penalties
1–3
Attendance: 5,657[12]
Referee: Bogdan Sorescu (Romania), Alessandro Malfer (Italy)

Third place match

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Russia  1–0  Kazakhstan
Report
Attendance: 8,217[12]
Referee: Juan José Cordero Gallardo (Spain), Alejandro Martínez Flores (Spain)

Final

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Portugal  3–2 (a.e.t.)  Spain
Report
Attendance: 10,352[12]
Referee: Ondřej Černý (Czech Republic), Saša Tomić (Croatia)

Ranking and statistics

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Final ranking

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All-star squad

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Top five players are bolded.

Pos. Player
GK   Georgi Zamtaradze
GK   Leo Higuita
FP   Taynan da Silva
FP   Douglas Júnior
FP   André Coelho
FP   Pedro Cary
FP   Bruno Coelho
FP   Ricardinho
FP   Ivan Chishkala
FP   Mladen Kocić
FP   Igor Osredkar
FP   Miguelín
FP   Pola
FP   Petro Shoturma

Source:[13][12]

Awards

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Award Player
Best Player   Ricardinho
Golden Shoe   Ricardinho
Silver Shoe   Bruno Coelho
Bronze Shoe   Eder Lima

Source:[14]

Goalscorers

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7 goals
6 goals
5 goals
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
1 own goal

Source:[15]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Slovenia selected to host Futsal EURO 2018". UEFA.com. 26 January 2015.
  2. ^ "Portugal win Futsal EURO, Ricardinho top scorer: at a glance". UEFA.com. 10 February 2018.
  3. ^ "UEFA to revamp and expand futsal competitions". UEFA.com. 4 April 2017.
  4. ^ "Germany and Kosovo among Futsal EURO entrants". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). 1 September 2016.
  5. ^ a b c d "Regulations of the UEFA European Futsal Championship, 2017–18" (PDF). UEFA.com.
  6. ^ a b "Futsal EURO programme" (PDF). UEFA.com.
  7. ^ "UEFA Futsal EURO 2018 final tournament draw". UEFA.com. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
  8. ^ "UEFA Futsal EURO 2018 finals draw made". UEFA.com. 29 September 2017.
  9. ^ "UEFA Futsal EURO 2018 draw on 29 September". UEFA.com. 4 September 2017.
  10. ^ "UEFA Futsal EURO 2018 schedule confirmed". UEFA.com. 16 October 2017.
  11. ^ "Match Schedule" (PDF). UEFA.com.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u "Tournament review" (PDF). UEFA.com.
  13. ^ "Futsal EURO 2018 team of the tournament". UEFA.com. 14 February 2018.
  14. ^ "Ricardinho named Futsal EURO Player of the Tournament". UEFA.com. 10 February 2018.
  15. ^ "Statistics — Tournament phase — Player statistics — Goals". UEFA.com. 10 February 2018.
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