2028 Futsal World Cup qualifying: Preliminary round draw
Friday, December 12, 2025
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The road to the 2028 World Cup begins with April's preliminary round and the groups are set.
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European qualifying for the 2028 FIFA Futsal World Cup will begin with the preliminary round from 6 to 15 April 2026 and the groups have now been set.
2028 FIFA Futsal World Cup qualifying: Preliminary round draw
Group A: Denmark (hosts), Andorra, Malta, Scotland
Group B: Sweden, England (hosts), Switzerland, Northern Ireland
Group C: North Macedonia, Lithuania (hosts), Türkiye, Bulgaria
Group D (hosts TBC): Kosovo, Montenegro, Austria, Gibraltar
Group E (hosts TBC): Latvia, Albania, Cyprus, San Marino
Group F (hosts TBC): Greece, Norway, Israel, Estonia
The top two teams in each group progress to the main round to join the 24 highest-ranked entrants: Portugal, Spain, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, France, Croatia, Italy, Slovenia, Czechia, Poland, Netherlands, Armenia, Georgia, Belarus, Slovakia, Finland, Belgium, Serbia, Hungary, Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova, Germany, Azerbaijan
Entries
In all, 48 UEFA national associations have entered the competition. Each participating association starts the competition according to the Men's Futsal National Team Coefficients. The 24 top-ranked entrants directly enter the main round, while the 24 lowest-ranked associations begin the competition in this preliminary round. They were drawn into six groups of four teams. For each pot, the teams were allocated in alphabetical order and drawn to Groups A to F.
Three associations had declared an interest in hosting a mini-tournament; these were drawn from a separate pot, while maintaining their seeding position. Therefore, following the draw, the associations in each other group without a host will have to agree, by Friday 9 January, which of them will stage the mini-tournament in question. If the associations cannot agree, the UEFA administration will conduct a draw to determine the host of each group.
The winners and runners-up of each preliminary round group qualify for the main round.
Seeding pots and draw procedure
Pot 1: Hosts
Denmark (ranked 31, seeding position 1)
Lithuania (ranked 35, seeding position 2)
England (ranked 36, seeding position 2)
The hosts were drawn into the position corresponding to their coefficient ranking.
Pot 2: Seeding position 4
Bulgaria (ranked 45)
Gibraltar (ranked 46)
Estonia (ranked 47)
San Marino (ranked 48)
Scotland (ranked 49)
Northern Ireland (ranked 50)
The six teams were drawn into position 4 in Groups A to F.
Pot 3: Seeding position 3
Türkiye (ranked 38)
Cyprus (ranked 39)
Israel (ranked 40)
Switzerland (ranked 42)
Malta (ranked 43)
Austria (ranked 44)
The six teams were drawn into position 3 in Groups A to F.
Pot 4: Seeding position 2
Montenegro (ranked 32)
Norway (ranked 33)
Andorra (ranked 34)
Albania (ranked 37)
The four teams were drawn into position 2 in Groups A to F, missing out the groups which already had a host assigned to that position.
Pot 5: Seeding position 1
Sweden (ranked 26)
Latvia (ranked 27)
North Macedonia (ranked 28)
Kosovo (ranked 29)
Greece (ranked 30)
The five teams were drawn into position 1 in Groups A to F, missing out the group which already had a host assigned to that position.
Entering directly in main round
Portugal, Spain, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, France, Croatia, Italy, Slovenia, Czechia, Poland, Netherlands, Armenia, Georgia, Belarus, Slovakia, Finland, Belgium, Serbia, Hungary, Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova, Germany, Azerbaijan
UEFA qualifying calendar for 2028 FIFA Futsal World Cup
Preliminary round draw: 12 December 2025
Preliminary round: 6–15 April 2026
Main round group phase draw: 19 May 2026
Main round group phase: 12–21 October 2026, 2–11 November 2026, 6–9 December 2026, 22 February–3 March 2027
Main round play-off draw: 5 March 2027
Main round play-offs: 12–21 April 2027
Elite round group phase draw: 20 May 2027
Elite round group phase: 6–15 September 2027, 11–20 October 2027, 13–22 December 2027
Elite round play-off draw: 20 January 2028
Elite round play-offs: 10–19 April 2028
UEFA qualifying format for 2028 FIFA Futsal World Cup
Preliminary round
The teams in the preliminary round were drawn into six groups of four on the level of entries) and compete in one-venue mini-tournaments
All the group winners and runners-up qualify for the main round.
Main round
Main round group phase
The 12 preliminary round qualifiers join the 24 teams entering directly in the main round. The 36 teams in the main round are drawn into 12 groups of three, played with home-and-away fixtures.
The 12 group winners and the four best runners-up qualify for the elite round. The remaining eight runners-up qualify for the main round play-offs.
Main round play-offs
The eight teams are formed into four ties by means of an open draw. The winners of the four home-and-away ties qualify for the elite round.
Elite round
Elite round group phase
The 20 teams are drawn into five groups of four teams, played with home-and-away fixtures.
The five group winners qualify for the final tournament. The four best runners-up qualify for the elite round play-offs. If a European association is selected to host the final tournament, only the two best runners-up qualify for the elite round play-offs.
Elite round play-offs
The four teams are formed into two ties by means of an open draw. The winners of the two home-and-away ties qualify for the final tournament.
Futsal World Cup roll of honour
2024: Brazil 2-1 Argentina (Uzbekistan)
2021: Portugal 2-1 Argentina (Lithuania)
2016: Argentina 5-4 Russia (Colombia)
2012: Brazil 3-2aet Spain (Thailand)
2008: Brazil 2-2, 4-3pens Spain (Brazil)
2004: Spain 2-1 Italy (Chinese Taipei)
2000: Spain 4-3 Brazil (Guatemala)
1996: Brazil 6-4 Spain (Spain)
1992: Brazil 4-1 United States (Hong Kong)
1989: Brazil 2-1 Netherlands (Netherlands)