Futsal World Cup: France heads for historic 8th final after beating Venezuela

At the buzzer, the French players raise their arms to the sky. For their first participation in the World Cup, in Uzbekistan, the French futsal team recorded their second victory in two matches this Thursday and qualified for the round of 16 before the last group match. Three days after their victory against Guatemala (6-3), Raphaël Reynaud’s men won against Venezuela (7-3). Their rise in the competition continues.

Like the match against Guatemala, Les Bleus went into steamroller mode in the second half. The progress has been significant over the last two years for this team, which had only participated in one Euro in 2018. In their last 21 matches, France, now the world’s 10th nation, has a record of 14 wins and 6 draws, including a prestigious victory against Brazil, the world’s number one nation, last April (3-2). All hopes are allowed for the rest of the competition.

Last group match on Sunday against Iran

The Venezuelans scored two goals in one minute and took the lead… But for a short time because the Blues immediately fought back by scoring two goals in turn on a great strike from Ayoub Saadaoui (2-2, 17th) then a masterpiece – a volley – from Kévin Ramirez just before the break.

Right after the restart, Venezuela equalized through Briceno (3-3, 22nd). But, the Blues raised their level of play and were finally rewarded for their efforts with a goal from close range scored by Mamadou Touré following a great strike from Menéndez. It was then the turn of Nelson Lutin, nicknamed the Mbappé of futsal, to make a definitive break thanks to an opportunistic goal (5-3, 33rd).

The Tricolores can rejoice: they will play in the last 16 of the World Cup next week for the first time in their history. Before this match, they will face Iran on Sunday afternoon (5 p.m.), also winner of their first two matches, with first place in Group F at stake. “The objective has been achieved. We had some great customers. We are very happy and proud for French futsal, savors Raphaël Reynaud. We played a solid match. We are happy to go into the break with a one-goal lead. In the second half, we continued to put the pressure on and it worked for us.”