Since FIFA has postponed all the competitions scheduled to take place in 2020, including the FIFA Futsal World Cup in Lithuania (postponed to 12th September - 3rd October 2021), we have decided to give you the brief history of FIFA Futsal World Cups (AMF Futsal World Cup were established in 1982 and run by another governing body, but that is the story for some another article).
1989 Futsal World Cup – Netherlands
The inaugural FIFA Futsal World Cup was held in the Netherlands from 5th to 15th January 1989. 16 countries participated on first tournament – 6 from Europe (Belgium, Denmark, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Spain), 3 from South America (Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay), 2 from Africa (Algeria and Zimbabwe), 2 from Asia (Japan and Saudi Arabia), 2 from North America (Canada and the United States) and 1 from Oceania (Australia).
Brazil won the tournament defeating hosts the Netherlands in the finals (2:1). The U.S.A defeated Belgium in the game for the bronze medal.
Gold medal: Brazil
Silver medal: Netherlands
Bronze medal: The United States
Fourth place: Belgium
Best player: Victor Hermans (Netherlands)
Best goalscorer: Laszlo Zsadanyi (Hungary) – 7
Fair Play: The United States
Complete statistics of the 1989 Futsal World Cup Netherlands
1992 Futsal World Cup – Hong Kong
The second FIFA Futsal World Cup was held three years and 11 months later (15 - 28 November 1992) in Hong Kong with 16 participants – 6 from Europe (Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Poland, Russia and Spain), 3 from South America (Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay), 3 from Asia (China, Hong Kong and Iran), 2 from North America (Costa Rica, The USA), 1 from Africa (Nigeria) and one from Oceania (Australia).
Brazil defended the title defeating the USA in finals 4:1. Spain defeated Iran in the third-place match and won the bronze medal.
Gold medal: Brazil
Silver medal: The United States
Bronze medal: Spain
Fourth place: Iran
Best player: Jorginho (Brazil)
Best goalscorer: Saeid Rajabi Shirazi (Iran) – 16
Fair play: The United States
Complete statistics of the 1992 Futsal World Cup Hong Kong
1996 Futsal World Cup – Spain
Third FWC was held in Europe, Spain from 24th November and 8th December 1996 with 16 teams – 6 from Europe (Belgium, Italy, Netherlands, Russia, Spain and Ukraine), 3 from Asia (China, Iran, Malaysia), 3 from South America (Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay), 2 from North America (Cuba and The USA), 1 from Africa (Egypt) and 1 from Oceania (Australia).
Brazil won the third title in the row defeating hosts Spain in the finals (in Barcelona) with 6:4. Third place went to Russia that defeated Ukraine 3:2 in the third-place match.
Gold medal: Brazil
Silver medal: Spain
Bronze medal: Russia
Fourth place: Ukraine
Best player: Manoel Tobias (Brazil)
Best goalscorer: Manoel Tobias (Brazil) – 14
Fair play: Brazil
Complete statistics of the 1996 Futsal World Cup Spain
2000 Futsal World Cup – Guatemala
Central American state Guatemala hosted the fourth edition of the World Cup (18 November – 3 December 2000) on which 16 teams participated – 5 from Europe (Croatia, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Russia), 3 from Asia (Iran, Kazakhstan and Thailand), 3 from North America (Costa Rica, Cuba and Guatemala), 3 from South America (Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay), 1 from Asia (Egypt) and 1 from Oceania (Australia)
In Guatemala, Spain broke the dominance of Brazil winning finals against Futsal Selecaoo with 4:3, even though Brazil led 3:2, less than 5 minutes before the end time. In the end, Brazil scored magnificent 78 goals on the tournament, and the second most effective team was Spain with 39 goals
Portugal won the bronze medal on their World Cup debut defeating Russia in the third-place match.
Gold medal: Spain
Silver medal: Brazil
Bronze medal: Portugal
Fourth place: Russia
Best player: Manoel Tobias (Brazil)
Best goalscorer: Manoel Tobias (Brazil) – 19
Fair play: Brazil
Complete statistics of the 2000 Futsal World Cup Guatemala
2004 Futsal World Cup – Chinese Taipei (Taiwan)
Fifth World Cup come back to Asia (21 November – 5 December 2004) with 16 teams participating – 5 from Europe (Czech Republic, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Ukraine), 4 from Asia (Chinese Taipei, Iran, Japan and Thailand), 3 from South America (Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay), 1 from Africa (Egypt) and 1 from Oceania).
Spain defended the title defeating Italy in the finals with 2:1. It was the first tournament without Brazil in the finals who won the bronze medal defeating continental rivals Argentina 7:4 (Spain defeated Brazil in semi-finals on penalties).
Gold medal: Spain
Silver medal: Italy
Bronze medal: Brazil
Fourth place: Argentina
Best player: Falcao (Brazil)
Best goalscorer: Falcao (Brazil) – 13
Fair play: Brazil
Complete statistics of the 2004 Futsal World Cup Chinese Taipei (Taiwan)
2008 Futsal World Cup – Brazil
The sixth edition of the Fifa Futsal World Cup was held in Brazil and was the first World Cup with 20 teams participating – 6 from Europe (Czech Republic, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Russia and Ukraine), 4 from Asia (China, Japan, Iran and Thailand), 4 from South America (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay), 3 from North America (Cuba, Guatemala, the USA), 2 from Africa (Egypt and Libya) and 1 from Oceania (Solomon Islands).
Brazil returned the title to its showcases by defeating rivals Spain in finals after the penalties (the regular game ended 2:2). Third place went to Italy that defeated Russia with 2:1.)
Gold medal: Brazil
Silver medal: Spain
Bronze medal: Italy
Fourth place: Russia
Best player: Falcao (Brazil)
Best goalscorer: Pula (Russia) – 16
Best goalkeeper: Tiago (Brazil)
Fair play: Spain
Complete statistics of the 2008 Futsal World Cup Brazil
2012 Futsal World Cup – Thailand
For the third time, the Asian country hosted the World Cup (1-18 November 2012) and it was the first FWC with 24 participants – 7 from Europe (Czech Republic, Italy, Portugal, Russia, Serbia, Spain and Ukraine), 5 from Asia (Australia, Iran, Japan, Kuwait and Thailand), 4 from North America (Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico and Panama), 4 from South America (Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Paraguay), 3 from Africa (Egypt, Libya and Morocco) and 1 from Oceania (Solomon Islands).
Brazil defended the title and reached their 5th title defeating Spain in finals (3:2) after the extra time with Falcao scoring the winning goal in the 37th minute of the match. Italy won the bronze medal defeating Colombia 3:0.
Gold medal: Brazil
Silver medal: Spain
Bronze medal: Italy
Fourth place: Colombia
Best player: Neto (Brazil)
Best goalscorer: Eder Lima (Russia) – 9
Best goalkeeper: Stefano Mammarella (Italy)
Fair play: Argentina
Complete statistics of the 2012 Futsal World Cup Thailand
2016 Futsal World Cup – Colombia
Four years ago the last Futsal World Cup was held. 24 teams participated in Colombia – 7 from Europe (Azerbaijan, Italy, Kazakhstan, Portugal, Russia, Spain and Ukraine), 5 from Asia (Australia, Iran, Thailand, Uzbekistan and Vietnam), 4 from North America (Costa Rica, Cuba, Guatemala and Panama), 4 from South America (Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Paraguay), 3 from Africa (Egypt, Morocco and Mozambique) and 1 from Oceania (Solomon Islands).
The tournament in Colombia was the first World Cup that Brazil or Spain did not win. Iran shocked Brazil in the round of 16, and Russia defeated Spain in the quarterfinals. Eventually, Argentina won the tournament defeating Russia in finals with 5:4, and Iran clinched their first medal by winning the third-place match against Portugal.
Gold medal: Argentina
Silver medal: Brazil
Bronze medal: Iran
Fourth place: Portugal
Best player: Fernando Wilhelm (Argentina)
Best goalscorer: Ricardinho (Portugal) – 12
Best goalkeeper: Nicolas Sarmiento (Argentina)
Fair play: Vietnam
Complete statistics of the 2016 Futsal World Cup Colombia
Overall:
Medal summary (gold–silver–bronze)
- Brazil 5-1-1
- Spain 2-3-1
- Argentina 1-0-0
- Italy 0-1-2
- Russia 0-1-1
- The USA 0-1-1
- Netherlands 0-1-0
- Iran 0-0-1
- Portugal 0-0-1
All-time scorers:
- Falcao (Brazil) 48 (33 matches)
- Manoel Tobias (Brazil) 43 (32)
- Konstantin Eremenko (Russia) 28 (18)
- Schumacher (Brazil) 25 (25)
- Richardinho (Portugal) 20 (14)
All-time statistics:
Tournaments played: 8
Matches played: 360 (most matches in 2008 – 56)
Goals scored: 2432 (most goals in 2008 – 387)
All participants:
8 (editions) – Argentina, Brazil, Spain
7 – Australia, Iran, Italy
6 – Egypt, Paraguay, Russia
5 – Cuba, Portugal, Thailand, Ukraine, The USA
4 – Costa Rica, Guatemala, Japan, Netherlands
3 – Belgium, China, Czech Republic, Solomon Islands, Uruguay
2 – Colombia, Kazakhstan, Libya, Morocco, Panama
1 – Algeria, Azerbaijan, Canada, Chinese Taipei (Taiwan), Croatia, Denmark, Hong Kong, Hungary, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mexico, Mozambique, Nigeria, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Zimbabwe
