The 2018 UEFA Futsal Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Futsal Euro 2018, was the 11th edition of the UEFA Futsal Championship, the international futsal championship organised by UEFA for the men's national teams of Europe. It was hosted for the first time in Slovenia, following a decision of the UEFA Executive Committee on 26 January 2015.[1] Slovenia was chosen ahead of other bids from Macedonia and Romania.
The final tournament was contested from 30 January to 10 February and comprised 12 teams, eleven of which joined the hosts Slovenia after overcoming a qualifying tournament. Matches took place at the Arena Stožice in Ljubljana. In their second appearance in the competition's final after 2010, Portugal defeated seven-time winners and defending champions Spain 3–2, after extra-time, to win their first European title.[2]
This was the last tournament to be held on a two-year basis and featuring 12 teams, as the competition will be played every four years, starting from 2022, and include 16 teams.[3]
A total of 48 UEFA nations entered the competition (including Germany and Kosovo which entered for the first time), and with the hosts Slovenia qualifying automatically, the other 47 teams competed in the qualifying competition to determine the remaining 11 spots in the final tournament.[4] The qualifying competition, which took place from January to September 2017, consisted of three rounds:[5]
Preliminary round: The 26 lowest-ranked teams were drawn into seven groups – five groups of four teams and two groups of three teams. Each group was played in single round-robin format at one of the pre-selected hosts. The seven group winners advanced to the main round.
Main round: The 28 teams (21 highest-ranked teams and seven preliminary round qualifiers) were drawn into seven groups of four teams. Each group was played in single round-robin format at one of the pre-selected hosts. The seven group winners qualified directly to the final tournament, while the seven runners-up and the best third-placed team advanced to the play-offs.
Play-offs: The eight teams were drawn into four ties to play home-and-away two-legged matches to determine the last four qualified teams.
Qualified teams
The following 12 teams qualified for the final tournament.[6]
The final draw was held on 29 September 2017, 12:00 CEST (UTC+2), at Ljubljana Castle in Ljubljana, Slovenia.[7][8] The 12 teams were drawn into four groups of three teams. Hosts Slovenia were assigned to position A1 in the draw, and the remaining teams were seeded according to their coefficient ranking, except that title holders Spain were automatically placed into Pot 1.[9]
Each group contained one team from Pot 1, one team from Pot 2, and one team from Pot 3. For political reasons, Russia and Ukraine could not be drawn in the same group or in groups scheduled to be played on the same day (due to a potential clash of teams and clash of fans). Therefore, if Russia were drawn in Group B, Ukraine had to be drawn in Group C or D, and if Russia were drawn in Group C or D, Ukraine had to be drawn in Group A or B.
Each national team have to submit a squad of 14 players, two of whom must be goalkeepers. If a player is injured or ill severely enough to prevent his participation in the tournament before his team's first match, he can be replaced by another player.[5]
Group stage
The final tournament schedule was confirmed on 16 October 2017.[10]
The group winners and runners-up advance to the quarter-finals.
Tiebreakers
Teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss), and if tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings (Regulations Articles 19.01 and 19.02):[5]
Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
If more than two teams are tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams are still tied, all head-to-head criteria above are reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams;
Goal difference in all group matches;
Goals scored in all group matches;
Penalty shoot-out if only two teams have the same number of points, and they met in the last round of the group and are tied after applying all criteria above (not used if more than two teams have the same number of points, or if their rankings are not relevant for qualification for the next stage);
Disciplinary points (red card = 3 points, yellow card = 1 point, expulsion for two yellow cards in one match = 3 points);
Referee: Vladimir Kadykov (Russia), Admir Zahovič (Slovenia)
Knockout stage
If a match is drawn after 40 minutes of regular play, an extra time consisting of two five-minute periods is played. If teams are still leveled after extra time, a penalty shoot-out is used to determine the winner. In the third place match, the extra time is skipped and the decision goes directly to kicks from the penalty mark (Regulations Articles 20.02 and 20.03).[5]
