Futsal Champions League finals contenders: Cartagena, Etoile Lavalloise, Palma, Sporting CP

The four contenders for the UEFA Futsal Champions League finals at Pesaro Futsal Arena, Italy, on 8 to 10 May have been decided.

Cartagena Costa Cálida, Etoile Lavalloise, holders Illes Balears Palma and two-time winners Sporting CP came through the new quarter-final round that ended on Friday. The four ties were set by the round of 16, the other two-legged knockout stage replacing the elite round from this season.

The finals draw will be made at 12:00 CET on Tuesday 17 March at the Prefettura di Pesaro, setting the knockout last-four ties. Last season Palma took the title and Cartagena (on debut) beat Sporting for bronze in Le Mans, for which Etoile Lavalloise (who have reached the finals for the first time this year) were the official host club.

Cartagena Costa Cálida (ESP)

Main round
Group 1 winners (played in Gliwice): 5-0 vs Kauno Žalgiris, 4-0 vs Sporting Anderlecht, 0-0 vs Piast Gliwice

Round of 16
14-2agg vs Luxol St. Andrews (9-1 a, 5-1 h)

Quarter-finals
9-5agg vs Kairat Almaty (2-1 a, 7-4 h)

Top scorer: Waltinho 7
Previous best: Third place
2024/25: Third place

Semi-final record: W0 L1

Previous final tournament appearances
2025: Third place

• Took bronze on debut last season, and this January won their third straight Spanish Super Cup, beating Palma 5-2 after extra time at San Moix.
• In the quarter-finals avenged their defeat by Kairat in the 2024/25 semis in Le Mans (the key a burst of two goals in ten seconds to come from behind in the away first leg). The only team to reach the finals unbeaten over 40 minutes.
• Cartagena coach Duda was previously in charge of Murcia FS, leading them to the 2008 final before his side lost on penalties to Ekaterinburg.

Etoile Lavalloise (FRA)

Main round
Group 2 runners-up (played in Palma de Mallorca): 1-2 vs Illes Balears Palma, 4-3 vs Semey, 6-1 vs Chrudim

Round of 16
11-5agg vs Hjørring (4-1 a, 7-4 h)

Quarter-finals
8-6agg vs Semey (5-4 h, 3-2 a)

Semi-final record: First finals appearance

Top scorer: Bilal Bakkali 8
Previous best: Elite round
2024/25: Elite round

• The second French team to reach the finals after ACCS Asnières Villeneuve 92 in 2021/22.
• Etoil's Souheil Mouhoudine and Nelson Lutin was in that ACCS team. Mouhoudine also helped Cartagena to bronze last season.
• In the quarter-final first leg against Semey they came back from three goals down to win, as they did versus the same club in the main round. Bakkali hit late winners in all three defeats of Semey (and six goals in all over those three matches).

Illes Balears Palma (ESP, holders)

Main round
Group 2 winners (played in Palma de Mallorca): 2-1 vs Etoile Lavalloise, 3-1 vs Chrudim, 7-4 vs Semey

Round of 16
6-4agg vs Hit Kyiv (2-2 a, 4-2 h)

Quarter-final
7-5agg vs Riga Futsal Club (7-4 h, 0-1 a)

Top scorer: Alisson 8
Previous best: Winners x 3 (2022/23, 2023/24, 2024/25)
2024/25: Winners

Semi-final record: W3 L0

Previous final tournament appearances
2025: Winners (9-4 vs Kairat Almaty, Le Mans)
2024: Winners (5-1 vs Barça, Yerevan)
2023: Winners (1-1aet, 5-3pens vs Sporting CP, Palma de Mallorca), hosts

• Last season Palma became the first club to win the trophy three years in a row, doing so in their first three entries. They can become the first team to reach the final four seasons running.
• Mario Rivillos could become the first player to win five finals after victories with Inter FS in 2016/17 and Palma in the last three seasons. Goalkeepers Carlos Barrón and Luan Muller have also been part of all three Palma triumphs; only Sergio Lozano has previously won the trophy four times with the same club (Barça).
• Their second-leg loss at Riga was their first defeat in any match in this competition, in their 31st fixture. Their 30-game unbeaten fell one short of the overall UEFA club competition record of OL Lyonnes, set in the UEFA Women's Champions League between 2017 and 2021 (though 30 is a record for any team from their first match in UEFA competition).

Sporting CP (POR)

Main round
Group 4 winners (played in Makarska): 19-1 vs Prishtina 01, 7-2 vs Kairat Almaty, 4-0 vs Novo Vrijeme Makarska

Round of 16
19-3agg vs AEK Futsal (11-0 a, 8-3 h)

Quarter-finals
10-8agg vs Benfica (3-4 a, 7-4 h)

Top scorer: Bruno Pinto 11
Previous best: Winners x 2 (2018/19, 2020/21)
2024/25: Fourth place

Semi-final record: W7 L5

Previous final tournament appearances
2025: Fourth place
2024: Fourth place
2023: Runners-up (1-1aet, 3-5pens vs Palma, Palma de Mallorca)
2022: Runners-up (0-4 vs Barça, Riga)
2021: Winners (4-3 vs Barça, Zadar, eight-team finals)
2019: Winners (2-1 vs Kairat, Almaty)
2018: Runners-up (2-5 vs Inter FS, Zaragoza)
2017: Runners-up (0-7 vs Inter FS, Almaty)
2015: Third place, hosts
2012: Fourth place
2011: Runners-up (2-5 vs Montesilvano, Almaty)
2002: Semi-finalists, hosts (eight-team finals)

• Sporting CP have reached the finals for a record 13th time (12 in the post-2006/07 format and, before that, as hosts of the eight-team final tournament that concluded the inaugural 2001/02 edition). They are in the finals for a sixth straight season, beating the previous record of five set by Barça between 2017/18 and 2021/22.
• João Matos' record competition appearance tally is now up to 96, and in the quarter-finals Nuno Dias overtook Jesús Velasco's tally of 80 UEFA futsal club matches coached, moving on to 82.
• Bruno Pinto with 11 goals is the current top scorer over the season for the competition with Soufian Charraoui of Tigers Roermond.