Futsal EURO 2026, Latvia, Lithuania & Slovenia: All you need to know

Latvia, Lithuania and Slovenia will host UEFA Futsal EURO 2026 in Riga, Kaunas and Ljubljana from 20 January to 7 February.

Selected at the UEFA Executive Committee meeting in Hamburg on 2 December 2023, it will be the first time either the Latvian Football Federation or Lithuanian Football Federation has hosted a senior UEFA national-team final tournament. The Football Association of Slovenia was added as a third co-host on 27 June 2025, having previously staged UEFA Futsal EURO 2018.

The 2026 event will be the second Futsal EURO since the switch from the biennial 12-team tournament to a 16-nation finals held every four years following Netherlands 2022.

The three nations will be the first co-hosts for a Futsal EURO. Latvia and Lithuania gained automatic finals places; their opponents are being decided by qualifying running from April 2024 to September's play-offs, with Slovenia among the teams through. The draw will be on Friday 24 October at Žalgirio Arena, Kaunas, which is one of the four match venues along with Arena Riga and, in Ljubljana, Arena Stožice and Tivoli Arena.

Latvia, Lithuania and Slovenia follow in the footsteps of previous Futsal EURO hosts Netherlands (2022), Slovenia (2018), Serbia (2016), Belgium (2014), Croatia (2012), Hungary (2010), Portugal (2007), Czechia (2005), Italy (2003), Russia (2001) and Spain, who held the first UEFA European Futsal Championship of 1999 and also the 1996 UEFA European Futsal Tournament.

Venues

Arena Riga, Latvia

Arena Riga during the 2022 Futsal Champions League finalSPORTSFILE

Hosting: 5 Group A matches (including Latvia), 1 Group B match, 1 quarter-final

The arena in the Latvian capital was the venue for the 2019 UEFA European Under-19 Futsal Championship and 2022 UEFA Futsal Champions League final tournaments. Latvia is also set to stage the 2027 U17 EURO, which will be its first UEFA football final tournament.

Arena Riga opened in 2006 and is home to several ice hockey and basketball teams (including Latvian national selections) and has staged a wide variety of sports and other events including concerts. Among other major competitions played were matches at the 2006, 2021 and 2023 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships, EuroBasket Women 2009 and EuroBasket 2015, with the 2025 edition also set to take place at Arena Riga.

Žalgirio Arena, Kaunas, Lithuania

Žalgirio Arena was a venue for the 2021 Futsal World CupFIFA via Getty Images

Hosting: 5 Group B matches (including Lithuania), 1 Group A match, 1 quarter-final

Žalgirio Arena in Lithuania's second largest city hosted 22 matches in the 2021 FIFA Futsal World Cup, including both the opening game and the final. While Futsal EURO 2026 will be the first major UEFA final tournament in the sport staged in Lithuania, it follows in the footsteps of football's 2013 U19 EURO (where Kaunas hosted five matches), 2018 WU17 EURO and 2024 WU19 EURO (when Kaunas was again a venue).

Opened in 2011, Žalgirio Arena is the home of basketball's Žalgiris Kaunas and staged the sport's EuroLeague Final Four in 2023. It has also hosted many major concerts and events including the 2024 European Figure Skating Championships.

Arena Stožice, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Arena Stožice staged Futsal EURO 2018UEFA via Sportsfile

Hosting: 5 Group C matches (including Slovenia), 5 Group D matches, 2 quarter-finals, 2 semi-finals, third-place match, final

The largest arena in Slovenia, the venue in the nation's capital opened in 2010 and was the home of Futsal EURO 2018, then a 12-team tournament played at a single venue. The 20-game event attracted an aggregate attendance of more than 100,000, with several sell-outs.

Among other events at the arena were the 2022 European Women's Handball Championship and EuroBasket Women 2023, as well as many major concerts. It is also set to be a venue for EuroBasket 2029.

Tivoli Arena, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Slovenia played two qualifiers at Tivoli ArenaAles Fevzer via NZS

Hosting: 1 Group C match, 1 Group D match

Tivoli Arena, opened in 1965, is part of a sports complex at Tivoli City Park in the Slovenian capital. The hall used for Futsal EURO staged two of Slovenia's main round matches in this competition and is also a home for basketball's Cedevita Olimpija (who also play at Arena Stožice}.

The complex as a whole has hosted major events in basketball, handball, table tennis, ice skating, gymnastics, volleyball and weightlifting.

Final tournament format

The 16 teams will be drawn into four groups of four, with the top two from each progressing to the quarter-finals. Latvia will be in Group A, playing in Riga; Lithuania will be in Group B, playing in Kaunus; Slovenia will be in Group C, playing at Arena Stožice, Ljubljana.

Knockout system:
Quarter-final 1: Winners Group B v Runners-up Group A
Quarter-final 2: Winners Group A v Runners-up Group B
Quarter-final 3: Winners Group C v Runners-up Group D
Quarter-final 4: Winners Group D v Runners-up Group C
Semi-final 1: Winners quarter-final 2 v Winners quarter-final 4
Semi-final 2: Winners quarter-final 1 v Winners quarter-final 3
Third-place match: Losers semi-final 1 v Losers semi-final 2
Final: Winners semi-final 1 v Winners semi-final 2

Qualifying format

Qualifying consists of three stages: preliminary round (mini-tournaments), main round (home and away groups) and play-offs (home and away).

• Hosts Latvia and Lithuania both enter in the final tournament.
• 12 teams began in the preliminary round, the other 34 (with the higher ranking as of December 2023) going directly in the main round.

Preliminary round (draw 25 January 2024, matches 8–17 April 2024)

• The teams were drawn into three groups of four teams, played as mini-tournaments.
• The top two in each group progressed to the main round.

Main round (draw 30 May 2024, matches 9 December 2024–16 April 2025)

• The 40 teams (including the 34 entering directly in the main round) were drawn into ten groups of four
• Each team faced the other teams in their group both home and away.
• The ten group winners join hosts Latvia and Lithuania in the finals, with the eight best runners-up entering the play-offs

Play-offs (draw 3 July, matches 15–24 September 2025)

• The eight teams were drawn into four ties, played over two legs, to decide the last four qualifiers.

Past Futsal EURO finals

2022 Portugal 4-2 Russia: Amsterdam, Netherlands
2018 Portugal 3-2 Spain (aet): Ljubljana, Slovenia
2016 Spain 7-3 Russia: Belgrade, Serbia
2014 Italy 3-1 Russia: Antwerp, Belgium
2012 Spain 3-1 Russia (aet): Zagreb, Croatia
2010 Spain 4-2 Portugal: Debrecen, Hungary
2007 Spain 3-1 Italy: Porto, Portugal
2005 Spain 2-1 Russia: Ostrava, Czech Republic
2003 Italy 1-0 Ukraine: Caserta, Italy
2001 Spain 2-1 Ukraine (golden goal): Moscow, Russia
1999 Russia 3-3 Spain (aet, 4-3 pens): Granada, Spain
1996* Spain 5-3 Russia: Córdoba, Spain

*UEFA European Futsal Tournament, championship status from 1999 onwards