UEFA Futsal EURO 2026 quarter-final Sunday preview: Spain vs Italy, Portugal vs Belgium

The UEFA Futsal EURO 2026 quarter-finals continue on Sunday at Ljubljana's Arena Stožice as holders Portugal take on Belgium before Spain face fellow former champions Italy.

Portugal vs Belgium

Portugal's bid for a third straight title has gone well so far. They topped Group D by beating Italy 6-2, Hungary 5-1 and Poland 3-2 in Jorge Braz's 100th competitive game in charge, stretching their record run of consecutive finals wins to 14.

Belgium, meanwhile, are in the knockout phase for the first time since reaching the inaugural semi-finals in 1996, The key was their opening 4-0 defeat of Belarus, as although they then lost 5-4 to Slovenia and 10-3 to Spain, the Red Devils were still second in Group C.

That was because Slovenia's 3-2 loss to Belarus left Belgium above both on three-way head-to-head goal difference, the Red Devils players having a nervous few minutes watching the end of that game before starting wild celebrations. However, they now have the toughest of tasks against the holders – though their only recent meetings were two April 2022 friendlies with the teams exchanging a win apiece in Gondomar and Belgium do have current finals top scorer Omar Rahou, who equalled the group stage record of six goals.

Jorge Braz, Portugal coach: "[Belgium] started very well [beating Belarus 4-0] and have very good players. They have excellent players in one-on-one situations, who are very interesting – guys who like to play real old-school futsal. They have some experienced players, so we will be prepared for a tough match.

"One thing is for sure: we will always respect our opponents, no matter who it is. But we will focus on ourselves and what we have to do against Belgium."

Karim Bachar, Belgium coach: "The level was too high for us against Spain and we know the level will be the same against Portugal, but we are here."

Spain vs Italy 

Spain, like Portugal, picked up a maximum nine points in the group stage as they overcame Slovenia 4-1, Belarus 2-0 and Belgium 10-3. That was the first time a team had scored ten in a Futsal EURO finals game and their group tally of 16 goals equalled the competition record as their bid for an eighth title continues.

Twice champions Italy, unusually out in the group stage in 2018 and 2022, ended that run as after losing 6-2 to Portugal they defeated Poland 4-0 then equalised twice to hold Hungary 2-2 and pip them on goal difference.

However, Italy will be missing four-goal top scorer Julio De Oliveira due to suspension as they face a team they narrowly lost to 4-3 in a November friendly. Spain also beat Italy twice in 2024 FIFA Futsal World Cup qualifying and have the edge from their many big meetings in the past, not least the Futsal EURO 2007 and 2004 World Cup finals.

Jesús Velasco, Span coach: "Italy are a hard-working, very experienced team that will make things difficult. I have faith in the style of play we're developing. If we continue at this level, we'll have a great chance of going onwards."

Alex Merlim, Italy player: "We will face Spain, who are one of the best teams in the world and, along with Portugal, the strongest team in Europe. It will be a difficult match, but a good one."