Competition format
Saturday 1 December 2007
e-mail
Print
Digg
Save
Photos/Wallpapers »
The first UEFA European Futsal Championship was staged in 1999 although an unofficial version of the competition was played in January 1996, in Cordoba, Spain. It was won by the hosts and they have since established themselves as the continent's leading futsal power. It was the success of the 1996 event that helped persuade the UEFA Executive Committee, in April 1997, to formally introduce a full-scale championship.
From 1999 until 2007 the biennial final tournament involved eight teams, including the hosts. By 2005, there were enough entries to justify a preliminary round before main qualifying, to reduce the number of teams to 28 teams, competing in seven groups. However, for the 2010 edition in Hungary, the finals have been expanded to 12 teams. Sixteen sides will begin in the preliminary round, with the four group winners and two best runners-up to join 22 other nations in the main qualifying phase. Seven mini-tournaments will take place with the group winners and four best runners-up joining the hosts in the finals.
©uefa.com 1998-2009. All rights reserved.
