Which team will win the 2021 Fustal World Cup?

The ball will continue to be the protagonist during 2021. After the end of the seasons in most countries, it is the turn of the national teams to stand out both in the Copa América and in the Eurocup. Added to this, there will also be a discipline that promises to bring emotions to the ball fans: the FIFA Futsal World Cup 2021 .

Lithuania will be the scene of this ninth edition World Cup that will take place between September 12th and October 3rd , where a total of 24 teams will seek to keep the glory and that precious trophy. The first futsal World Cup was held in the Netherlands in 1989, and the Brazilian team was the champion, which in the end would repeat on four other occasions . Like the Soccer World Cup, this tournament is also organized every four years, and to date it has only been held in Latin America three times: Guatemala (2000), Brazil (2008) and Colombia (2016). The competition has absolute dominance of the canarinha , but we must also mention the two titles of Spain and the one obtained by Argentina in Colombian territory . Who will participate and who are favorites to win this time? Let's find out.

CONCACAF representatives

The CONCACAF Futsal Championship is in charge of granting the places for the World Cup for the countries from North America, Central America and the Caribbean, and for its seventh edition it had Costa Rica as champion . The Tico team beat the United States 3-2 in the final and won their fourth title, thus extending their dominance in the zone. Those led by coach Carlos Quirós relied on the talent of Milinton Tijerino and César Vargas to revalidate the championship for the third time in a row .

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The selection of this confederation with the most participations in the futsal world championships is the United States, with six. After missing the appointment in 2012 and 2016, the team led by coach Keith Tozer will look for ways to dominate again the field and regain lost ground . In the final phase of the CONCACAF Championship, they eliminated the Dominican Republic in the quarterfinals and beat Guatemala in the semis to play the final.

In third place to Lithuania from Concacaf is Guatemala, who lost 5-4 to the United States on penalties. Futsal has become the sport par excellence of the country , and as a great example is that World Cup that they organized in 2000, being eliminated in the group stage. The Spanish Tomás de Dios López is the coach of this team that will seek to advance through the phase for the first time in its history in 2021.

Finally, Panama will be the last CONCACAF representative and will be present for the third time in a World Cup . La Roja arrived undefeated until the semifinals where they were defeated by Costa Rica, and later lost to Guatemala for the bronze. Carlos Pérez was the top scorer of the Championship and will try to continue contributing goals so that his team can play again -at least- a round of 16.

CONMEBOL, home of favorites

Argentina was the champion of the South American Futsal Qualifiers . His road to Lithuania could not have been in the best way, as they won all six games without much trouble, highlighting the triumphs against Paraguay in the semifinals and Brazil in the final. Those led by Matías Lucuix are the current monarchs of sport and will seek to revalidate their crown in this 2021 World Cup.

Brazilian futsal culture is one of the most important on the continent, so much so that the national team is in the first place in the world ranking . La Verde-Amarela, which is under the command of Marquinhos Xavier, was a real Futsal machine in the qualifying rounds, reaching the final without conceding goals and scoring 24 times. Although they qualified as runners-up, Brazil will be the number one rival to beat in Lithuania .

Another of the participants is Paraguay , which at this point already has respect among the CONMEBOL members. The Guarani accompanied Brazil and Argentina in the first two editions of the World Cup, and for this 2021 they will say present for the seventh time. During the qualifying rounds they lost in the semis against Argentina, but beat Venezuela to take third place. Coach Luis Martín Barrientos wants to make history in the World Cup and overcome the quarter-finals for the first time.

Finally, the debutant Venezuela appears. Despite starting losing in the qualifying rounds, Vinotinto recovered and managed to win their other three games to finish second in the group , highlighting the crushing 5-1 victory against Uruguay. Coach Freddy González will have the talent of several players available to make history in this Futsal World Cup in Lithuania.