Qualified for the first Futsal World Cup in its history, the French team has performed well on the pitch. Starting with victories against Guatemala (6-3) and Venezuela (7-3), the Blues brilliantly qualified for the 1/8th finals by finishing second in their group with a defeat against Iran on the 3rd day. The French will thus face Thailand in the round of 16. A match that caused a scandal. Indeed, the Blues delivered a rather dull match and this sparked many reactions.
Former Portuguese international and futsal legend Ricardinho particularly criticised this attitude on his social networks: This had already happened in the World Cup in Brazil, between Paraguay and Italy, where what happened was clear to everyone, so that both could qualify for the next phase. And now France is doing the same to avoid tougher rivals. I don’t even know when the athletes will accept these things and when they will create a concept so that in the last round there will be no more things like this. Futsal loses, sport loses… how sad!» France has an easier half of the table with a potential quarter-final against Paraguay or Afghanistan. Les Bleus thus avoid the main favourites such as Brazil, Portugal, Kazakhstan, Argentina, Spain or Iran until the semi-final.
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